Myrtle Beach Here I Come!

When I moved to Colorado in 2008 I knew it was not going to be forever.  What I thought would be short few month stay, turned into 12 years! However in 2018 I knew there was a season of change coming; I could feel it. I didn't know what would change, or how my life would change, but I knew God was stirring things up.  

First came a major job change in January. A change that would have me leave a large company (170K employees)  where I had worked for 24 years and move to what felt like a small company (3K employees). This change was a huge boost to my earning potential and really tapped in to my strengths.  As time went on, I had friends move away or get married, leaving me with a much smaller pool of people in my already small circle of friends. Things I had been passionate about, like worship team and singles ministry were starting to wain. I still enjoyed them but I could feel the separation happening in anticipation of whatever was to come. Then at the end of 2018 a close friend Roxann was diagnosed with uterine sarcoma. The prognosis was not good and my focus shifted to trying to be there for her as much as I could.  I told her my job was to keep her laughing and smiling even in the worst of times. My journey with Roxann took us to new places and adventures overseas, but in October of 2019 Roxann lost her battle and went home to be with Jesus. Witnessing her faith through this journey was so inspiring. She was a pillar of strength and shared the gospel whenever she could, right until the end. 

I felt lead to start looking for my next destination somewhere on the east coast, looking primarily at Virginia and south all the way to Florida, away from real winters and close to the ocean. I whittled away at a list of different places until I decided to look into Myrtle Beach. A November birthday weekend with my sister Melissa and my daughter Jenna created the perfect opportunity to take a look at the area, the cost of living and see what God might have in store. After a full day of hunting for homes, I came up empty and thought for sure I would go home without. Then the next morning the realtor called me and we took one more look in a neighborhood he had left off the list because of the price of the homes. But one more time God showed up and I found home fully furnished, practically brand new in a 55+ community.  It just felt right.  So the offer went in, was accepted and I went home to Colorado to deal with the financial end of it.  My new job had afforded me the ability to sock away money so I had a huge down payment, and to avoid having two mortgage payments I refinanced the house in CO and paid cash for the house in Myrtle Beach.  

The refinance was quick and I closed on the loan on November 30 and wired the money to South Carolina.  Then came the shock of my life, just 3 days later on December 3rd, I found myself without a job.  The job I had absolutely loved, came to an abrupt end as the result of a restructuring. I was beyond devastated, shocked and angry.  This job I loved had been a dream job, this was not the change I saw coming! I was due to close on the house in SC on December the 9th just six days later.  I understood in that moment that God was about to change everything in an instant. My ideas of being a snow bird for a few years disappeared, and I felt like God was saying sorry but don't let the door hit you on the way out, you just need to go and go now. Even my friends reinforced they saw God pushing me out the door. 

When Roxann passed she had made me executor of her estate; that meant not just dealing with distribution of the estate but also emptying and selling her home. I decided to enjoy the holidays and hit the ground running when I returned.  We sold Roxann's house while I was in NH for Christmas and the closing was set for Jan 17th. I pushed myself hard, everyday making trips to house, listing items on Craigslist and FB Market place; her brother came from MO and we had a big garage sale and accomplished the task at hand. I no sooner finished that project when I started my own.  I didn't have enough funds left to last for too long having to pay my new, now higher mortgage, so I emptied my house and sold everything that wouldn't fit in my 7x7 foot POD.  My realtor Dede was confused about my not staging the house so she could take pictures but now I was on a mission.  I told her I bought the house empty and would have to sell the house empty.  Leaving it empty would ultimately be the best decision ever. 

Dede was great, she offered to take care of anything left behind and have the house professionally cleaned as soon as I left.  On March 6th, 2020 I headed for South Carolina just as COVID-19 broke out in CO.  I felt like it was chasing me cross country.  I stopped in MO and TN before finally reaching my destination.  Despite COVID my home hit the market and the showings took off.  By the middle of April my life in CO had come to close. 

So its Myrtle Beach here I come, God has big plans apparently, so stay tuned as this new adventure continues to unfold, there is a lot more to tell.