How we got our house



Today we closed on our third house in five years. It has been a crazy five years, and the reasons for moving mainly have to do with David's job! In all of it we've seen God's provision. We would like this house to be the last house we buy for many years to come.

We moved to Hickory (which is David's home town) a week before Christmas 2016. We had to sell our house from a distance and take up his parents' offer of their basement and his old room. Most of our things were put in storage and we took the plunge to live in tight conditions. Judy and Glenn have been very tolerant and helpful this whole time! The most trouble we've had has been caused by the youngest member of the house, who will remain anonymous.

Selling our house in GA was hard because it's unique. It had ten acres, an old barn, and some work that needed to be done. We had put $30k of work into it! This included foundation, new roof, new floors, painting, barn repairs. We could not sell it for what we bought it for. From October through February it was under three different contracts, until the right buyer came along. He bought it on March 30th.

Meanwhile in January we found the house we bought today. We loved it right away and it had everything we needed as far as large yard, space, location, and commute. An added bonus is that I actually think this house is attractive. On our tight budget that hasn't been an option in the past.

Our offer was rejected because it was contingent. We had to let it go! It was good that this happened because when the current contract fell through we would've been in a hard spot under another contract. The same situation occurred in February, only this time we were told our offer would be accepted.

We wanted to go forward with it, but felt reservations about the contingency aspect. We got wise advice and withheld an offer. When the next contract on the house we were selling fell through we knew it had been a good decision. Within a week we had the final contract on our house, but could not trust it would work and would need to get through negotiations and the due diligence period.

We did, and in March we had kept looking at houses all over the greater Hickory area. We considered renting, but rent is pretty high and it would mean moving twice in the future. The more we searched the more we thought about the first house we'd seen.

Once we knew the current buyer would stick it out, we decided to make an offer. When we moved forward to do that, we found out that the owner had contacted our realtor again to see if we wanted it and offering to accept our offer and negotiate, which they were not willing to do previously.

So, six days before we sold our house we made a (barely) contingent offer on the house! The inspection revealed some issues and we were able to negotiate it a little lower. The mortgage payment will be the lowest we have paid in rent/mortgage EVER.

A lady once said that God is Lord over real estate as well. She was right and I see God's hand in all of this. We have trusted Him, prayed and sought His wisdom. We have a connection with God that is only through His Son. This connection makes us His children, and a good father takes care of his children. God knows our hearts and knows we don't want a house because we love houses or the things in them. And the only reason we don't want them or the things in them is because he has taken out our hearts of stone and replaced them in a softened heart of flesh. He brought us from spiritual death to spiritual life because of all that Jesus did for us. I love my heavenly Father.

So we saw the Lord do many things in this process:
1) He made us uncomfortable in Atlanta through the hardship at David's job there and realized we'd stupidly purchased a house that was out of our price range.
2) He laid on both of our hearts to move to Hickory.
3) He brought us through the wiles of some tricky buyers.
4) He provided for us through our church family at Sovereign Hope Church of Senoia, GA.
5) He provided for us through extremely generous neighbors.
6) He provided housing for us under his parents' roof.
7) He provided the perfect buyer for our country house and land.
8) He gave us wisdom when we asked for it, though it wasn't what we wanted to hear.
9) He blessed us when we obeyed that wisdom.
10) He provided us with a new house.

This past Easter if you heard people say that Jesus is alive, then know that this small story in just one Christian family's life is another display of his movement in the world. To Him be the glory!




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