Buying a House
I was young and madly in love when the guy I was courting asked me to eat at Gyro Wrap in downtown Athens. He said he had some things he wanted to talk about. We sat down at a tiny table together and he pulled out a piece of paper with a list on it. He began to ask me questions. I didnʼt know it at the time; but if I wouldʼve said no to those questions he wouldn’t have proposed. One of them was, “Are you going to be okay when all of your friends are buying houses and we arenʼt because Iʼm called to the ministry?” I was blinded by love and said, “Yes, Iʼll be fine! Iʼll live wherever God wants me to...even if that means in a box on the side of the road.” And I really meant that. I was passionately in love with Jesus and wanted to serve Him above all else.
Fast forward almost 15 years...now we have 4 kids (one is a baby) and we donʼt have a home. We live in a 3 bedroom apartment on the third floor with no garage or basement to store bikes and basketballs galore. Did I mention all 4 kids are rough and tumble loud boys?!? God has a sense of humor. He probably laughs at me often. He reminds me of the vows I made to Him when I was young and passionately in love with Him and John. I still love the Lord and my husband but sometimes I get mad at them too.
Before we moved here we did own a home for a couple years in Kentucky. I was thankful! But then God called us to West Virginia and we sold our home. Before that home we always rented. We lived in a basement apartment, then a tiny apartment, then we rented an older house, then a single wide trailer, then a few more rented houses in different states. We have lived in 10 different “homes” in 14 years. We have moved a lot! I was pregnant both times we moved to a different state.
We have lived in our current apartment for almost a year. Itʼs really nice and Iʼm thankful it has some great things that go along with it. But itʼs just not the same as having your own house. So Iʼve been house hunting for over a year and we thought we found one but God stopped us right before we signed the contract. I cried over it. Then we thought we found an even better one! Hereʼs what I wrote in my journal about it:
My emotions have been everywhere. I was so extremely excited about buying this gorgeous house that seemed absolutely perfect for our family. It had enough bedrooms and a little nursery off of the master bedroom. It had a flat yard in West Virginia which is almost impossible to find! It was almost an acre of a flat yard! It had a basketball area on the driveway and was remodeled. We were moving forward and everything with our sweet Christian realtor from church was going so smoothly. The sellers and the selling agent were also Christians. And then a week before closing God interrupted my husband and me. My husband was praying in our closet about other things and then he had the thought from the Lord that said, “Donʼt buy this house, it wonʼt be good for your family.” So John told the Lord that he needed to speak to me about the house if that thought was from the Lord. Later that day I asked John, “What is the Lord telling you about this house?” And John told me how the Lord spoke to him in the prayer closet. John asked me if I had heard from the Lord and I told him that I did hear something a week or two ago but I did not tell him. It was when I was reading through one of the contracts I had a thought that said, “Donʼt do this, trust me.” But I shook it off because my flesh wanted to buy the house so bad. So John and I talked about it that day. We went to church the next day which was Sunday and one of the sermons from the associate pastor was on walking by faith and how sometimes God tells you to do things that donʼt make sense at all. I was reminded of how John and I have lived our life by faith moving and doing things when it didnʼt make any sense. So we had the pastor pray for us after church and the next day which was Monday we met with the realtor and told her that God had spoke to us about not buying the house. We proceeded with the termination and we lost our $5000 earnest money. We also lost money on the home inspection and termite inspection. But the next day someone came to my husband and said that their family wanted to know how to hear from God like that. And if thatʼs the only reason why John and I went through this was so that somebody else could desire to hear from God then it was worth it. The verse I have been meditating on to help me get through this is Proverbs 3:5-6.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
I had forgotten to acknowledge him before buying that house. I was just leaning on my own understanding and got myself in turmoil.
Now Iʼm back to trusting Him and waiting on Him. There is peace in that. Even living here in this apartment.
Fast forward almost 15 years...now we have 4 kids (one is a baby) and we donʼt have a home. We live in a 3 bedroom apartment on the third floor with no garage or basement to store bikes and basketballs galore. Did I mention all 4 kids are rough and tumble loud boys?!? God has a sense of humor. He probably laughs at me often. He reminds me of the vows I made to Him when I was young and passionately in love with Him and John. I still love the Lord and my husband but sometimes I get mad at them too.
Before we moved here we did own a home for a couple years in Kentucky. I was thankful! But then God called us to West Virginia and we sold our home. Before that home we always rented. We lived in a basement apartment, then a tiny apartment, then we rented an older house, then a single wide trailer, then a few more rented houses in different states. We have lived in 10 different “homes” in 14 years. We have moved a lot! I was pregnant both times we moved to a different state.
We have lived in our current apartment for almost a year. Itʼs really nice and Iʼm thankful it has some great things that go along with it. But itʼs just not the same as having your own house. So Iʼve been house hunting for over a year and we thought we found one but God stopped us right before we signed the contract. I cried over it. Then we thought we found an even better one! Hereʼs what I wrote in my journal about it:
My emotions have been everywhere. I was so extremely excited about buying this gorgeous house that seemed absolutely perfect for our family. It had enough bedrooms and a little nursery off of the master bedroom. It had a flat yard in West Virginia which is almost impossible to find! It was almost an acre of a flat yard! It had a basketball area on the driveway and was remodeled. We were moving forward and everything with our sweet Christian realtor from church was going so smoothly. The sellers and the selling agent were also Christians. And then a week before closing God interrupted my husband and me. My husband was praying in our closet about other things and then he had the thought from the Lord that said, “Donʼt buy this house, it wonʼt be good for your family.” So John told the Lord that he needed to speak to me about the house if that thought was from the Lord. Later that day I asked John, “What is the Lord telling you about this house?” And John told me how the Lord spoke to him in the prayer closet. John asked me if I had heard from the Lord and I told him that I did hear something a week or two ago but I did not tell him. It was when I was reading through one of the contracts I had a thought that said, “Donʼt do this, trust me.” But I shook it off because my flesh wanted to buy the house so bad. So John and I talked about it that day. We went to church the next day which was Sunday and one of the sermons from the associate pastor was on walking by faith and how sometimes God tells you to do things that donʼt make sense at all. I was reminded of how John and I have lived our life by faith moving and doing things when it didnʼt make any sense. So we had the pastor pray for us after church and the next day which was Monday we met with the realtor and told her that God had spoke to us about not buying the house. We proceeded with the termination and we lost our $5000 earnest money. We also lost money on the home inspection and termite inspection. But the next day someone came to my husband and said that their family wanted to know how to hear from God like that. And if thatʼs the only reason why John and I went through this was so that somebody else could desire to hear from God then it was worth it. The verse I have been meditating on to help me get through this is Proverbs 3:5-6.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
I had forgotten to acknowledge him before buying that house. I was just leaning on my own understanding and got myself in turmoil.
Now Iʼm back to trusting Him and waiting on Him. There is peace in that. Even living here in this apartment.
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