Bick's Quicks

Good Friends and Goodbyes

I'm leaving Texas today and moving North to St. Louis.  Our years here in the Lone Star state have been challenging, life-changing and rich.  As a kid who grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas and a die-hard Razorback fan I never imagined that I would EVER live in the state we so hated during football and basketball season.  I will truly and deeply miss Texas.

Over the past few weeks we've had the opportunity to share meals and say our goodbyes with some really great people.  Friends, in the truest sense of the word.

Friends who have....

Shared their lives and resources
Loved our children as their own
Prayed for and encouraged me/us when life was difficult
Challenged my thinking, rebuked my sin
Laughed with us late into the night
Gone more than the extra mile in helping us get our home ready to sell-(painting until 4:00am!)
Become part of our family and part of my heart

I'm thankful that yesterday some of my closest friends stopped by to say goodbye, pray and give one last hug. 

I love you friends and will miss you incredibly.

Keep Digging

Staying at a task is easy when the end is in sight or if you have assurance that what you are doing will make a difference.  However, when you have no clue whether what you are presently doing will make a difference, when there is no end in sight, one can lose energy, hope, passion and simply choose to give up.  I'm at one of those crossroads now.

We are in the process of relocating and selling our home.  The initial buzz of our first offer wore off like middle schooler's sugar high when it fell through.  Add to that the challenge of finding a home in city some 600 miles away in a more expensive and tighter market and you may have a picture of the morale around our house.

I'm still finishing up some of the remaining details in getting our current abode up to maximum market readiness.  The reality of only a handful of showings and one offer gone bust make that work incredibly difficult to finalize.

One of my favorite passages in times like this is: 2 Kings 3

It reminds me that...

• Deserts are inevitable-we will encounter "dry" times when we can see no way out, no provision and no possibilities. 
• I have two options:  I can panic or I can praise God.
• Preparation precedes provision-if I don't do the work of digging, I will not have room to receive God's provision.
• I can't see what God is doing-my favorite phrase from this passage is; "you will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be full of water."
• The answer will come in the morning-I must work and rest and wait-worrying about what I can't do or what I can't provide will only wear me out.  This is God's deal, he will answer when He answers.

Keep digging friends.

Needles and Haystacks

This past week I've been searching for a home in STL, specifically Webster Groves.  It's a great little community with rolling hills, older homes and the feel of a small town within a big city. 

The homes there are anywhere from 60-100 years old. This means they have issues-like old tile, uneven floors, one car garages, funky small kitchens and unfinished basements more suited to store potatoes than for doing laundry or adding a fourth bedroom.  We toured close to 20 homes in our two days there with our great agent, Sandie Hea.  She's a sharp lady who loves Jesus, knows the area, cares about my family and helps her clients navigate the perils of home buying.

Our family has made three transitions to a new ministry location-each time we've moved we have entered a more expensive, more elusive real estate market.  This one is perhaps the greatest challenge. 

People love Webster Groves for it's charm, family feel, great schools and proximity to all things St. Louis.  This makes it challenging for an outsider to break in.  High demand = high dollar and fewer great homes in our price range.

In the past I've been able to find incredible deals on many things, cars, trips, crazy shirts, glasses etc.  This one is proving a bit more challenging.  I'm asking you to pray with me that we'll find the right house that will be a home for my family.  We desire our home to be a place where we can practice hospitality with neighbors, friends, unbelievers and extended family and share Christ in a real and authentic way.

I'm looking for the needle in the haystack.  I know it will only be found by rolling up my sleeves and digging around preceded by massive amounts of prayer.

10 in Ten

The past 10 days I've been busy doing demo and remodel work on our old house.  It's now completely renovated and on the market.  I've learned a lot in the past two weeks and I've lost close to 10lbs.  We could not have made it without our really great and incredible friends who pitched in and helped us transform the house.

I've learned....

• People want to help you-ask them.  It's been humbling to have shared both our need and our lives with our friends. They never hesitated to jump in and respond.
• Expect surprises and delays-it's part of the territory.  Sheetrock is the great concealer of the construction world.
• If you purchase a tract home, produced by a quantity not quality home builder you can count on having a home with less than superior quality.  You'll have to repair or upgrade systems and components.
• Do the work yourself and you'll save HUGE $.  If you don't know how to perform a particular task you can always consult youtube-it's all there.
• Remodeling/updating/painting an entire 2100 sq foot home in 10 days is hard on family, friends and your body. 
• I don't believe I have another one of these major overhaul's in me-done them the last two places we've lived.  I'm looking for a new home that's ready to go.
• Buy expensive paint (Sherwin Williams, BEHR) it's worth the cost that it will save you in time.
• Plan for food, especially when your kitchen is part of the remodel-otherwise you'll be eating alot of Fast Food.
• Remodeling stresses your dog(s) out.
• When you find a home, do all the work first-enjoy the benefits of all that energy on the front end and make your home into a real home for everyone to enjoy.

Pray for us, our kids and our home to sell quickly.

We can't remember where we packed some of our items-and we haven't even moved to STL yet....Sheesh.

Deconstructed/Reconstructed

We're in the middle of some serious deconstruction and reconstruction here in Texas.  Our 20+ year old house is undergoing some transformations in order to get it ready to sell.

Thanks to a great group of friends and contacts we're making progress.  I'll post some before and after shots for you to view in the sidebar this coming week.

I've learned a lot in the process of tearing down and rebuilding. 

• We have really great friends-they've given so much of their time.  I will miss them.
• We have made some great contacts-experts who are advising us during this process.
• Never buy a home that you don't absolutely love-the biggest regret of my Adult life is this house, I will be glad to say goodbye.
• Buying a house with siding means, repairs, patching and painting-avoid this if at all possible.
• I enjoy working with my hands...but now my hands hurt.  And I'm tired.
• Painting is fun, for about 2 minutes.

I'm ready for these projects to be finished. When that happens I hope to have a few days by the pool with a GIANT ICE COLD Dr Pepper.

And then it's off to my next adventure....