Seven years ago today, Susan and I were not yet married. Our wedding was scheduled for September 28, 2013. We owned separate homes, and we had decided to sell them and build a new home.

We were leaving town for a trip to Memphis, Tennessee to visit Susan’s son and his family. We had been looking for a new home, and we were in the car to begin this trip when we decided to stop first to check out some display homes near where both of us lived. We loved one of the models, wrote a check for $1,000 down payment to reserve the spot where we wanted our new home built, grabbed the sold sign and drove it into the ground.

We then continued our trip! Payne Family Homes broke ground for our new home the week before Christmas 2013. We were married, both of our homes had sold, and we were living in a local Marriott Resident Inn, where we would stay for six months while our home was being built.

Our home was finished in April 2014, and it has been perfect for us! We are so grateful to God for providing this lovely place for us to enjoy our new life together, and we are thankful that Terry and Julia Gunn provided their expertise as our realtors to sell our previous houses and help us purchase the home pictured below.

Our Lord has been good to us in every way. He has seen us through some health challenges, provided all our needs, and given us lives filled with love and joy. After the loss of our first spouses, Robert Fuller and Judy Segraves, neither of us knew we would ever again experience such blessed marriages.

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