Taken from original post July 2015.
In early July I took a last minute, super fast, trip to Nebraska. I was scheduled to leave at 8am on Tuesday and be back by Wednesday evening...giving me just about 24 hours in Nebraska. Well, I missed my flight and ended up hanging out in the Orlando airport with this little bird for nearly the entire day on Tuesday until I could get a 7pm flight that night.
Not a great way to start the trip, but really I just had one goal. Last September, Geoff and I sold mom's house to a couple that was renovating it. Early on they sent a few pictures of some things they did the outside of the house, but more recently they contacted us and invited us back to see all the renovations. It was an invitation I didn't want to pass up! My missed flight forced us to cancel dinner plans with everyone while I was there, but I did get to go to breakfast with my Dad and nephew, and we met sister-in-law and the kids there as well!
From there, Geoff and I headed down to Bellevue. Now, just to give you a little background...in October 2013 we had the house cleaned out. My previous posts that feature the images Geoff took were from before that clean up effort. Below you will see images of what it looked like when we actually sold it.
Here is the street view before:
And although I didn't get the exact angle after their renovations, you can get a general idea. They took out the big bushes, raised the tree line, painted and put in all new windows and a front door.
The entry way before:
And from the after shot you can get a better view of the new front door as well as how they replaced the banisters.
The living room/dining room before (obviously, this is before we moved out the final furniture pieces):
And after:
Because of the mold, they had to replace all the dry wall and ceiling in the entire house except the ceilings in the bedrooms. The also had to take up the floor and subfloor because of the water damage.
The kitchen before:
And look at the after! In addition to replacing all the plumbing, cabinets and appliances, they also removed the wall and opened it up a good bit!
Although the after isn't too dramatic, you can see that they also replaced all the doors in the house and they had to re-do all the electricity.
The hall bathroom before:
And after...amazing, right? He told us that they had to removed the tub through the wall!
My bedroom before:
My room and Geoff's room were probably in the best shape before, but you can see that they took out the two closet doors in my room and made one sliding door.
Geoff's room before:
And after:
Mom's room and half bath before:
And after:
The basement before:
Their renovations made it feel so finished! The one room was always sort of finished but the floor made it cold and dreary down there so the carpet really made it much more comfortable.
They also walled off part of the closet under the stairs and added a crawl space door to what was the playroom for more systematic storage.
One of the very first things that struck me was how much light was in the house. I'm sure it was mostly in contrast to my memories of the house always being hidden behind curtains and closed blinds. But it was so refreshing to walk in and see the light!
The other thing that really stood out to me was how open and fresh it was. Granted, it was all new with new drywall and paint, but more than the freshness in the air it really was almost like a weight was lifted from my chest as I took it all in. I could breath! In the months that we spent cleaning the house, we had to wear masks with filters because of the mold. But the mold being gone wasn't really even the reason it felt better. All the stuff, all the chaos, all the disorder...it was suffocating. And now, now there is freedom!
"He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction..."
Job 36:16
"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."
Psalm 18:19
There were also small reminders that were familiar as we walked through each room. For instance, they left the rods in all the closets. And in what was almost like a completely new house, little things like that were reminders that it was the same house we called home for so long.
He and his wife knew just a little about our story when we sold the house to them last September. But when the story went viral back in the Spring, they came across it and saw Geoff's images for the first time of the house when it was full of stuff. Rick shared with us that he would often be working on the house and wonder what it was like for us to live there. It was so sweet of him and his wife, Sharon, to let us come back and offer us some closure. It really felt like they took ownership of the place and while they have listed it, Rick told us they will keep us posted on a buyer! He even wanted to take a picture of Geoff and I on the front porch before we left!
In the end, I am so very thankful I got to go see it! It is wonderful to be able to have memories of it so beautiful instead of just the broken, cluttered ones in my memory. It also offered great hope! Hope in it being a place of peace and refuge for a family one day. Hope in that the darkness and secrecy did not win...it was all brought to light and made anew! It was a very tangible picture of what the Gospel does to our hearts!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
II Corinthians 5:17
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