Monday, November 29, 2010

The Story

I feel as though I have gotten ahead of myself in showing you pictures of the house. Truth be told I just haven’t had time to write, so I threw a few pictures up to keep those of you going crazy        (eh-hmmm tandis) at bay. But I think I should start at the beginning in telling you about us getting our house, hopefully in doing so you will be encouraged in the little wants and desires in your life and how our Father knows all about them.

It is no secret that we have been looking to move out of our trailer for the last few years. This past spring we started looking at land with the intention of buying possibly this summer or next and working towards putting a new double wide on it. I found myself getting quite impatient a number of times thinking that maybe we should just put one on our lot in Williams instead of waiting for the right piece of property to come along. I am not proud to say that I acted very childishly and many tears were shed on my part thinking we’d NEVER get out of the trailer. In June I finally realized that the Lord was teaching me a lesson. He was (and is) in control, no amount of worrying on my part would change that. In fact, it would just make me more miserable. When the time was perfect He would make it possible for us to get the land or house that was perfect for us, that’s all there was to it. Sometimes I’m glad I’m such a black and white person, because once I realized all this, it was easy for me to stop worrying about it. He would take care of us, He always has, end of story. Until that time came He would give me the grace to make our trailer the best home possible. At least it WAS a home, WITH a yard, AND a healthy family. I was ashamed for complaining.

In late July, maybe early August I’m not sure, the kids and I went over to a friends house to swim for the afternoon. Another friend was there with her 2 kids and as the afternoon went on we decided to have our husbands join us for an impromptu bbq. We were sitting around visiting after supper and the conversation turned to houses and if we were seriously looking at anything. “No, there’s just nothing out there in our price range that doesn’t need a lot of work right now” was our answer. “Did you hear the Kalli’s are moving? I think they’re listing their place this week. He got a new job in NC so they have to sell. They have a nice place”, replied one of the couples. My heart started to race a little bit sitting there. I knew the house they were talking about. I had done back up day care for the Kalli’s and stopped by their house afterward to get paid, I knew it was a nice place. It had been a few years but in my memory it was a gorgeous house. I had to have a little self talk in my brain right then “don’t get ahead of yourself. remember who is in control, just pray about it. don’t bug jerem that you HAVE to go look at it.”

A couple days later Jerem asked if I checked to see if it had been listed online yet, I hadn’t (I was very proud of myself for showing the self control in not checking). So I checked, it was there and way out of our price range. My heart kind of sunk, “there’s that” I thought. At this point Jerem would normally not even pursue something that we so obviously could not afford, but what did he say? “I think I’ll give the realtor a call, it wouldn’t hurt to look at it. We’ll pray about it and if it’s supposed to happen it will” So we looked, and fell in love. Anson asked us if we were going to buy it and I told him it was a big decision and a lot of money, we wouldn’t know for awhile. He asked if he gave us one of his dollars if that would help us buy it. Yes, I almost started crying at this point.

We went into it knowing what we could afford and made the commitment that we were not going to go out of that amount. We didn’t want to get in a position that we were trying to make it work just so we could have the house, rather we wanted to be in the Lords will and felt that by sticking at the amount we said He would bless us because of it. It was no surprise that they couldn’t accept our offer. They had just listed it and wanted to see if there was any other interest. We totally understood and at this point had the complete peace that if this was the house the Lord wanted us to have it would be ours, if not it just meant there was something even more perfect out there for us. 

About 3 weeks later I got a phone call from someone quite out of the blue asking if I would be interested in watching her little boy 4 days a week. He is two months older than Ava so in my mind it was perfect. 2 kids on the same schedule with a mom that works school hours and has summer and school holidays off. Watching him would give us the margin we needed to not be stressed out if we didn’t sell our house right away. At this point we felt that the Lord was starting to line things up for us in ways that we never saw coming. I found out about a loan program through the USDA that would give us a lower interest rate and lower our monthly payment considerably. Which enabled us to raise our offering price a little, definitly not much, but a little. They still needed more than what we were offering, so we continued praying. About 4 days after our second offer we got a “this is our final offer” from them, and of course we had to decline knowing it was still far out of our budget. We felt that there was a chance maybe they’d come back in the spring if they hadn’t sold it and accept our offer, but not before then. I was all settled in to one more winter in the trailer.

Two days later I got a call from Jerem, “they accepted our offer” he said. “nuh uh…you’re just trying to get a rise out of me, it’s not gonna work” (see husbands, if you’re reading, this is why you can’t ALWAYS joke with your wives!). I could hear him grinning on the other end, “no, I’m serious. they said they have to take the appliances if they’re going to accept our offer, but they’ve accepted it”. Well shoot, who cares about appliances, we figure that out…WE GOT THE HOUSE!!! So, back to praying about the appliances, nothing’s too small for the Lord, right? Two months of endless paperwork and phone calls, faxes and emails the house was officially ours. They moved out a month before we moved in, and left EVERYTHING except the fridge. I have goosebumps reliving the last few months.

So, now is the time I share with you a few of the “wants and desires” that are part of this house. Things that were not “needs” per say. You’ve seen pictures of the kitchen. That is the biggest desire in my book. I love to cook and have always dreamed about having a beautiful kitchen. A year ago the kitchen did not look like that. A year ago it was vinyl flooring and dark cabinets with a wall where the bar counter is. Last January they did a major kitchen remodel not knowing they were going to be moving 6 months later, but the Lord knew. And He knew whose house it was going to be. Yeah, goosebumps. The house has 10 acres. TEN! We were hoping for 3 or 4 acres in the country someday…but 10?! They left their kid’s wooden swing set complete with a pirates deck as our kids call it, those things aren’t cheap. There is a HUGE deck, another thing we’ve always thought would be nice to have. And a two car garage. A luxury that borderlines as a “need” up here in the north woods, but since we’ve never had one you obviously can live without it. We were hoping to someday have enough room for a big bookcase for all our books that were in storage, we got a whole WALL of built in bookshelves. I could go on and on..but I think I’ve shared enough.

Whatever it is that you are in need or want of this year, bring it to the Lord. Don’t stress about it. He who cared enough to send his Son to die for us, the One who has the whole world in His hands, cares enough about us to give us the home we’ve always dreamed of. Don’t limit Him, nothing is too big or small.

9 comments:

Hannah said...

That's an amazing story and what a blessing! I'm so glad things worked out so well for you...what a great God we have who provides for all our needs!

The Roli Poli's said...

Thank you for sharing this encouraging story! I love hearing how God provides when we trust Him!!!!

Anonymous said...

Such a sweet reminder of the Lord's faithfulness! Glad you wrote it down so your children and their children can see the Lord's faithfulness over the years!

Sheila King said...

It is just amazing how the Lord works! I got goosebumps reading this and I am sooo happy for you guys. What a great story of the Lord giving you the desires of your hearts.. He is truly AWESOME!

~ Tandis ~ said...

:) :) :) :) :) :) Thanks!

Beautiful story. Praise the Lord!

Anonymous said...

I just cried reading this sis. It is amazing and so wonderful how the Lord has blessed you all. Thank you for being such an dilligent and faithful servant and for all the words of Wisdom you have passed on to me. You are such an encouragement. I love you so much, thanks for being you. Congrats on the house once again, I can't wait to see it in person.
Natasha

Mindy said...

So very thankful for you. I did almost six years time in a trailer, at one time with hubby, three of my kids and my sister and her newborn. The thing I loved about finally moving into a house was having ROOM to put things, ROOM to play and CLOSETS. You don't take anything for granted after living in a trailer. :) Praising the Lord for His goodness to the children of men.

steve said...

Oh Micah, I remember some of the same feelings after living in our old 1904 built home for 29 years. Never dreamed to be blessed with such a nice home. "How good is the God we adore,Our faithful, unchangeable Friend; Whose love is as great as His power, and knows neither measure nor end!" I know you'll use it for His glory. Jan

On Second Street said...

thanks for sharing Micah, that is just what i needed to read today.