But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:28

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18:

Diane and I have come full circle...we find ourselves back in Colonial Williamsburg, at the Anvil Campground, the place where we started our full-time adventure just about a year ago.

Let me sum it all up. It may be a bit redundant. Back in December we were forced to move into our motorhome under conditions we had not planned for.  The reason for that was due to problems with the sale and moving out  of our house. The problems were caused by the fickle, on, then off, then on again, and finally off again, buyers of our house. We found out later the fickleness (a nice word for it)  was caused by the fact they were not financially able to buy the house. They didn’t have the down payment and therefore didn’t actually qualify for the loan they contractually said they had. Unfortunately for us, their loan office knew this, as did their real estate agent. They planned  together to extort the down payment from us.

On the day of closing after the  final walk through and  after we moved out of the house, they demanded, through our closing attorney, two thousand dollars be paid directly to them with no record of the transaction. If we did not deliver the check that day they were going to walk away and look at other houses. We told them to walk, which they did not do for two months. They didn’t exactly walk away. We had to find a way to get them to go away. We had to fight them.  They threatened to sue us for breach of contract, which we did not commit, and they also threatened to sue us for the equity in our house which they didn’t get because they didn’t buy it. They also wanted us to pay all their closing costs. 

The whole thing was quite ridiculous. We had to help them see the light so to speak. This involved a number of lawyers and a relatively small amount of money to buy the bank's appraisal, which happened to be for quite a bit more than the contracted sales price of the house.

The above is a synopsis of a very difficult time. I had intended to write about that time long before now, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was still nursing quite a bit of anger and resentment towards the non-buyers and their co-conspirators who together caused Diane and I so much grief.

I have only now decided to write this  down because I have forgiven them. They did not ask for forgiveness, which is not a prerequisite.  I have not told them I forgive them, and I have no intention of doing so unless they ask which is something they will never do.  My forgiveness is for my benefit, not theirs.

Besides things could have been a lot worse. If you read part 2 of this “sad tale” you know why I say that.

Some other things have happened since last December  First; we did sell our house. We sold it for more that we were asking for it the first time. There was not a lot of drama the second time around, it was a normal transaction, still not easy, which seems to be the way things are when selling a house in today’s buyer's market. I can tell you this, I am not a fan of home inspection companies and the process for getting a termite letter either. We will just leave it at that.

Everything turned out all right. There was one good thing that came out of it all...the process was so frustrating and discouraging at times and I was so relieved when it was over that I don’t miss the house or anything that was in it at all.

Both Diane and I are very content with the 300 square feet on wheels the we now live in.

Diane’s mantra of "Less House, More Life" is so true!

 There is one more event that took place not too long ago.  

It happened during Hurricane Matthew. 

Our son Joel’s house in Virginia Beach flooded on that really bad Saturday. At first I didn't know for sure, his neighbors had water in their house, but they  live on lower ground than he does but not by much. The neighborhood was not passable and the Virginia Beach police had it closed off. 

Joel and  Ashley  were not in town that weekend. They had left for Nelson County near Wintergreen, Virginia  on Friday to do vet duty at a winery that also raises sheep. On the way, at 9:30 at night, while traveling  on a two lane road, some young man was walking down the center of the road.  Two cars in front of the one Joel and Ashley, and four others were in, swerved to miss the crazy pedestrian.  The second car, which was also the one just in front of Joel's,  swerved, lost control, came around and hit Joel's car almost head on, taking out the driver’s front wheel. Ellen, Joel's driver, managed to get control of the car and take it to the side of the road.

 No one was hurt including the suicidal man walking down the road. He actually apologized for causing so much trouble.

It took four hours to get a wrecker to come for them.

Joel thought the man must have been drunk or something. The young man said he was depressed because his wife left him and he lost his job. He must have wanted to die by automobile. 

On Sunday morning, they found out how just how bad it could be at their home. Their neighbors texted them some really bad pictures of the neighborhood. Joel's car was flooded as well.

The doctor's wife who owns the winery, felt so bad for them and they had worked so hard to treat all the sheep, that she decided to take the whole gang to a festival in Wintergreen.

While they were there a funnel cake food truck propane tank exploded and caused a chain reaction that set three or four more trucks on fire...the amount of black smoke was huge, a number of people were rushed to the closest hospital with burns and other injuries. Joel and Ashley were close by when the tank exploded but once again were not harmed. 

Diane is quite unnerved by these last two "almost" incidents. They are not his only close calls. 

Our son escaped from a major car accident a few years ago. A  flatbed truck hauling a large crane rear ended his Honda Civic on the interstate. His car was sandwiched between the crane and the car in front of him...the pictures of his car later reminded me of a ball of aluminum foil. He got out without a scratch, but the next day or two he felt like he had spent the night getting tossed around inside a clothes dryer.

He escaped death when he was born, Diane had toxemia and eclampsia, She spent three weeks in the hospital under "stoke watch".  During that time Joel was born by emergency C-section with a very bad set of lungs. His prognosis was not good but after a ton of prayer and great medical care, he made it. 

I have to wonder if God has something He wants him to do? My mind and heart just work that way. 

Joel and Ashley’s flooded home is being repaired. They have a new car as well. Its been tough for them , because they lost almost everything in their home, but things are getting much better.

This incident or incidents made me realize that Diane, Joel, Ashley and myself have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I intend to give thanks,

thanks that my family is safe,

thanks that I can spend time with my kids and grandkids,

thanks for the great food I know I will have,

thanks for coming  full circle, back to Colonial Williamsburg. 

Derrick.