We have pretty much decided to take a rental property in the city of Frederick for the next year. We are waiting for January sales to materialize before we submit an application for a very lovely home on Upper College Terrace that can house us, our girls as they come and go from life and college, and the business in the basement.
Our prayer has been for God to lead us to His place for us, from which the next (to us unknown) phase of our life, work, and ministry to others will take place. We are all happy about this house; we need it to stay open until we can commit to it, and we also would ask for prayers that someone will sublet our Gaithersburg townhome so that we can move to Frederick soon and not pay double rents. :D
This will probably be my last post on here for quite awhile. Thanks for following along and loving us through prayer and counsel!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Phoenix on hold... indefinitely
Scott heard preliminary feedback from our banker today, and it seems that it would be a stretch for the bank to float this dream in the next year's time frame. This is good, in my opinion. I've been following the news, and have been feeling uneasy about the national and world financial scene.
We have always said to one another that the bank would provide a major indicator of the wisdom of this scheme. So, now we have an answer--at least for now--and will be looking for a rental for the next 12-24 months. :D Our top choice is a lovely house on Upper College Terrace in Frederick City. We're discussing plans as to how this home might be a real center of ministry for us all, and a lovely home setting for us for the foreseeable future. I'm so grateful for clear direction, and for God's grace in focusing our attention on ministry first, then home to facilitate that ministry. I can so see Scott hosting a plethora of college students in a home that is roomy and walking distance from our home. Now, we'll see if the Lord keeps this home open for us through January. We need to clear one more financial hurtle before applying, and then it will be time for prayers that God will send a sub-lessor for our townhouse here in Montgomery Village.
"It's a mystery, Shakespeare, and you know how mysteries make me feel..."
We have always said to one another that the bank would provide a major indicator of the wisdom of this scheme. So, now we have an answer--at least for now--and will be looking for a rental for the next 12-24 months. :D Our top choice is a lovely house on Upper College Terrace in Frederick City. We're discussing plans as to how this home might be a real center of ministry for us all, and a lovely home setting for us for the foreseeable future. I'm so grateful for clear direction, and for God's grace in focusing our attention on ministry first, then home to facilitate that ministry. I can so see Scott hosting a plethora of college students in a home that is roomy and walking distance from our home. Now, we'll see if the Lord keeps this home open for us through January. We need to clear one more financial hurtle before applying, and then it will be time for prayers that God will send a sub-lessor for our townhouse here in Montgomery Village.
"It's a mystery, Shakespeare, and you know how mysteries make me feel..."
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Exploring alternatives
Well, since the last post, we've been exploring alternatives, back-up options, and interim housing. (This last is almost a certain necessity, for we will have to live somewhere while the Phoenix House is built, if all goes forward.) Looking hard at alternate settings (in Frederick City, and/or other acreage that might give us the opportunity to build a homeschool center without bulldozing and getting zoning permission, for instance) has only served to strongly affirm our desires to go forward with this Phoenix Project in Braddock Heights.
As we have talked realistically about negatives concerning Phoenix (the work of a large property, being out in the country, etc.), more and more positives emerge in counterpoint. We've talked at length, for instance, about the work involved. As a result, we have conceived of ways to do work-study programs, and how to organize large, periodic work days. As we talked about the fact that the homeschool center as a place for co-ops to meet would be somewhat limited (after all, class sizes are not large), we have thought of families in various stages of life that we could serve while forwarding our homeschooling vision.
We now picture a true community center, with the yard and basement of the house devoted to activities for younger kids--like, in the basement, a leggo station, a book-reading nook, a dress-up chest, mirror, and tiny theater for amateur theatrics, a craft area (over a cement floor) with a table and some easels complete with Tempra paints and smocks, etc. :D Perhaps we'd have a small space in the basement devoted to sleeping babes, with portable baby monitors that moms could take up to the verandas.
Meanwhile, the outside is shaping up in our minds, too. We're thinking of lots of old-fashioned games: horseshoe pits, shuffleboard, hopscotch, tether ball, badminton/volley ball nets, tire swings, and an amazing Victorian tree house. On the other side of the house, we envision a pergola over top of a picnic table for outside picnic lunching for moms/kids and for Lampstand Press employees.
The whole vision is that the center will be a hangout and drop in spot for young moms who want to fellowship with one another, get a vision for homeschooling, grab a shoulder to cry on, or simply change their four walls for awhile. Thus, it can be used all of the days of the week, not just co-op days, and embrace young mothers of preschoolers as well as older ones who want group classes for their kids. And separate from both of these is the vision of an experimental farm on the back 8 acres, in conjunction with the K-12 science curriculum that Scott wants to develop.
What emerges is a center that will, we hope, serve the entire community of homeschoolers and homeschool wannabes (or even, those who are just curious about home schooling). The idea is to do nothing that can't be duplicated in private homes nationwide. We hope to give Phoenix House a lovely Victorian decor, inside and out, and serve tea on the veranda many days that will refresh the spirits of busy homeschooling moms, while their kids are engaged in wholesome fun and work--physical and academic. :D
It's getting to be a lovely vision... now to see if the Lord will enable us to fulfill our daydreams!
As we have talked realistically about negatives concerning Phoenix (the work of a large property, being out in the country, etc.), more and more positives emerge in counterpoint. We've talked at length, for instance, about the work involved. As a result, we have conceived of ways to do work-study programs, and how to organize large, periodic work days. As we talked about the fact that the homeschool center as a place for co-ops to meet would be somewhat limited (after all, class sizes are not large), we have thought of families in various stages of life that we could serve while forwarding our homeschooling vision.
We now picture a true community center, with the yard and basement of the house devoted to activities for younger kids--like, in the basement, a leggo station, a book-reading nook, a dress-up chest, mirror, and tiny theater for amateur theatrics, a craft area (over a cement floor) with a table and some easels complete with Tempra paints and smocks, etc. :D Perhaps we'd have a small space in the basement devoted to sleeping babes, with portable baby monitors that moms could take up to the verandas.
Meanwhile, the outside is shaping up in our minds, too. We're thinking of lots of old-fashioned games: horseshoe pits, shuffleboard, hopscotch, tether ball, badminton/volley ball nets, tire swings, and an amazing Victorian tree house. On the other side of the house, we envision a pergola over top of a picnic table for outside picnic lunching for moms/kids and for Lampstand Press employees.
The whole vision is that the center will be a hangout and drop in spot for young moms who want to fellowship with one another, get a vision for homeschooling, grab a shoulder to cry on, or simply change their four walls for awhile. Thus, it can be used all of the days of the week, not just co-op days, and embrace young mothers of preschoolers as well as older ones who want group classes for their kids. And separate from both of these is the vision of an experimental farm on the back 8 acres, in conjunction with the K-12 science curriculum that Scott wants to develop.
What emerges is a center that will, we hope, serve the entire community of homeschoolers and homeschool wannabes (or even, those who are just curious about home schooling). The idea is to do nothing that can't be duplicated in private homes nationwide. We hope to give Phoenix House a lovely Victorian decor, inside and out, and serve tea on the veranda many days that will refresh the spirits of busy homeschooling moms, while their kids are engaged in wholesome fun and work--physical and academic. :D
It's getting to be a lovely vision... now to see if the Lord will enable us to fulfill our daydreams!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Weekend discussions
By now, in the advice-gathering process, several people have voiced the same concern: do you really want to take on 9 acres at your stage of life?
Christy and Scott believe that we can and should harness homeschool kid power to help run this center as we get older. They reason that, if it is a homeschool center that benefits the community, then we can offer two forms of "payment" for the use/benefits there.
1. We can establish a fee: either tuition for classes taught or a small fee for groups using the facility itself, if moms are doing the teaching.
2. Families can choose whether to contribute to the center in dollars or labor.
The administrator of Lampstand Press can keep track of all of the labor exchanges, and our book keeper can charge families for dollar payments. What remains is that there will need to be work crew leaders for cleaning/maintaining the ground floor and the gardens/yard immediately around the house (1+ acre).
For those of you who are following along and who live in the Frederick homeschooling community, what do you think? Would people opt for helping out (cleaning/maintaining the downstairs of the homeschooling center house and maintaining the lawn/gardens of the 1+ acre yard) or would they be most likely to pay class tuition or use fees for the center in dollars? If it's a split, what kind of split? 50/50? Give us a guess!
Christy and Scott believe that we can and should harness homeschool kid power to help run this center as we get older. They reason that, if it is a homeschool center that benefits the community, then we can offer two forms of "payment" for the use/benefits there.
1. We can establish a fee: either tuition for classes taught or a small fee for groups using the facility itself, if moms are doing the teaching.
2. Families can choose whether to contribute to the center in dollars or labor.
The administrator of Lampstand Press can keep track of all of the labor exchanges, and our book keeper can charge families for dollar payments. What remains is that there will need to be work crew leaders for cleaning/maintaining the ground floor and the gardens/yard immediately around the house (1+ acre).
For those of you who are following along and who live in the Frederick homeschooling community, what do you think? Would people opt for helping out (cleaning/maintaining the downstairs of the homeschooling center house and maintaining the lawn/gardens of the 1+ acre yard) or would they be most likely to pay class tuition or use fees for the center in dollars? If it's a split, what kind of split? 50/50? Give us a guess!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Off to the bank!
Well, after HOURS of work, Scott took all the Sandy Spring forms off to the bank. Mostly, this falls under the heading of "getting our affairs in order." We aren't really moving forward with the project yet. More, we've given them a detailed picture of our current finances, and projections for this coming year, and will sit down with them in January and discuss their perspectives on our current loans, line of credit, deposit for future purchases, etc.
I'm so PROUD of Scott: he really put a lot of time into the proposals and summaries, and was detailed and thorough. I think that, no matter what, this was a great step forward for anything we do in the real estate realm next year. THREE CHEERS FOR SCOTT!!!
I'm so PROUD of Scott: he really put a lot of time into the proposals and summaries, and was detailed and thorough. I think that, no matter what, this was a great step forward for anything we do in the real estate realm next year. THREE CHEERS FOR SCOTT!!!
Diligently slogging
Scott is diligently slogging through paperwork for the bank. He's run into some serious roadblocks: his Quickin data seemed utterly lost from a year ago backwards, and there were hours of discouragement there, but God graciously led him to a back door by which he could access it. HOURS are going into applications for the bank.
Meanwhile, I've put in a call to Haven Builders, who will take a floor plan from a customer and (in most cases) can create a modular build from it. What we're hoping is that, if we get a loan, the building process could be significantly shortened and simplified by using modular construction. I've yet to hear back from a technical professional, but the receptionist made encouraging remarks.
Meanwhile, I've put in a call to Haven Builders, who will take a floor plan from a customer and (in most cases) can create a modular build from it. What we're hoping is that, if we get a loan, the building process could be significantly shortened and simplified by using modular construction. I've yet to hear back from a technical professional, but the receptionist made encouraging remarks.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Building our time line
Today, we've been talking and building our time line, vis a vis the ebb and flow of finances associated with our seasonal business.
Given the fact that I'll finish writing Tapestry in mid-February, it seems prudent to us to offer on the land in late February or early March, and to concurrently put our rented townhouse on the market to find someone to take over our lease, so that we can move up to Frederick. The idea would be to offer a contingent contract on the 9 acre Phoenix lot. Contingencies would involve gaining financing and county approvals with a window of up to six months to close, putting us--if we overcome all obstacles--at the end of August beginning a build, or--if we run into insurmountable odds--looking for an existing alternate property, or simply staying put in the rental.
The Phoenix Project will take a us year to eighteen months all told to work through the process and build the house, sink or swim, and we'd rather be among our new church members than remote down here, so we're thinking that we'll be looking for a no-lease situation (ideally in Braddock Heights, but possibly elsewhere up there) that can accommodate us and our girls coming and going until Phoenix is built.
If, by August, we find that Phoenix is not feasible (no county approval, not enough money, problems building, or whatever) then with a no-lease rental we can look for an existing "plan B" property.
We'd love feedback on these ideas! Post a comment or email us privately: it's why we're thinking out loud here!
Given the fact that I'll finish writing Tapestry in mid-February, it seems prudent to us to offer on the land in late February or early March, and to concurrently put our rented townhouse on the market to find someone to take over our lease, so that we can move up to Frederick. The idea would be to offer a contingent contract on the 9 acre Phoenix lot. Contingencies would involve gaining financing and county approvals with a window of up to six months to close, putting us--if we overcome all obstacles--at the end of August beginning a build, or--if we run into insurmountable odds--looking for an existing alternate property, or simply staying put in the rental.
The Phoenix Project will take a us year to eighteen months all told to work through the process and build the house, sink or swim, and we'd rather be among our new church members than remote down here, so we're thinking that we'll be looking for a no-lease situation (ideally in Braddock Heights, but possibly elsewhere up there) that can accommodate us and our girls coming and going until Phoenix is built.
If, by August, we find that Phoenix is not feasible (no county approval, not enough money, problems building, or whatever) then with a no-lease rental we can look for an existing "plan B" property.
We'd love feedback on these ideas! Post a comment or email us privately: it's why we're thinking out loud here!
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