We have been riding on a glory cloud for the last three weeks. My mind can scarcely keep up and comprehend all that has happened. At God's prompting, we listed our little house on the market and ten days later we had an offer. Now we just need a place to go.
At the beginning of this season, God gave Toby a quadrant in town where He wanted us to live. Toby and I started searching the internet for available homes in the area and ran across several builders putting up new construction in this quadrant. After talking with several friends who had built homes with these builders and running the numbers, it became apparent that we may be able to build what we wanted at a cost equal to buying an existing home. We have resigned that we are likely not leaving Mobile any time in the near future. We are finally putting down roots and hope to find the "perfect" home that will fit our family's needs. A home we can grow into. We started scouring through floor plans and touring model homes. We would love to have a large family and we're hoping to have a bedroom for boys and a bedroom for girls (they'll bunk up), a nursery for new babies, a guest room for our family and friends, a space for entertaining and loving on anyone who pops by, and a space for homeschooling our children. We sat down with the base price lists and started narrowing down our options...this one's too small, this one's too expensive, etc. These details became exciting and our fantasizing became consuming. Once again, we were getting ahead of God.
Sunday, January 22
Yes, before we even listed our house on the market. I was visiting my mom in Montgomery and attended her church that morning. In Sunday School, through an impromptu discussion, in my spirit I heard loud and clear, "All things work together..." It was a piece of a popular verse from Romans. It was so loud that I thought maybe I was suppose to share it with the group, but for whatever reason I kept it to myself. Later that morning during worship we sang a wonderful praise song, Your Love Never Fails. If you're familiar with this song, you know that the bridge is a one liner that repeats over and over..."You make all things work together for my good." My sweet Jesus met with me during worship, "I know what you want and what you need. I am working on something great...even more amazing than what you have imagined...something that's not even on your radar. Your job now is to focus on the task at hand...sell your house." And with that, all anxiety and confusion vanished. My job was to work on my little house, clean it well, and present it to buyers to the best of my ability. So I returned home, we listed our house that week and I focused all of my attention on selling and left the house shopping up to God.
On Sunday, Feb 5, we received an offer on our little house and extended a counter offer. By Wednesday we still had not heard back from the buyers, but decided to take a peek at some houses, at Elaine's prompting. Over Toby's lunch break we knocked out six houses and then Elaine and I saw another five or so that afternoon. Toby and I are fast shoppers, so I knew we'd be able to make a decision quickly. We looked at several existing homes, but ruled them out knowing we could build exactly what our family needed. We went out on a limb and decided to look at one monster house, way out of our price range. Honestly, I'm just nosy and wanted a peek inside the big house...it had everything we wanted and then some. In the back of our minds we knew that this house was a new construction and had sat vacant since it's completion for over 9 months. Maybe, just maybe the builder would be motivated to let it go without much of a fight. We went home on Wednesday, cautiously excited about the slim possibility of such a nice house. And so we prayed, and waited...
Friday afternoon we finally received the call we'd been waiting for. We had a contract on our little house. We had less than three weeks before closing and we knew exactly which house we wanted to go after. Our sermon series this month has been "Immeasurably more" focusing on how our God can, does, and loves to blow our minds with His goodness. I think this situation fits perfectly...we were asking for a house that was immeasurably more than anything we ever thought we would ever own. It was beautiful, it was spacious, but it was expensive. My mottos had become, "All they can say is 'no'" and "You have not because you ask not." Prayers in hand, we made an offer (a very low offer) on the monster house. Not only did we offer a crazy low selling price, but we asked for the builder to add a privacy fence, a fridge, and pay some of our closing costs. When we were nearly finished writing up our offer, it occurred to me that we forgot to ask for blinds. Ugh...there are lots of windows...25 to be exact. Toby sheepishly asked, "Is it too late to add blinds?" The listing agent hesitated, "I'm gonna be honest with you. You're really close to the line here." We let the blinds drop. In fact, our offer was so low that Elaine asked the listing agent, "What do you think the chances are of this going through...1 to 10?" He really, really didn't want to answer. After several stutters and lots of hesitation, he answered with a, "Um, maybe a 3 or 4." At first I was a bit disappointed, but the more I thought about it, a "3 or 4" was just more room for God to show His power...to open doors that man can't. And so we waited...
Over the weekend we prayed constantly. At one point I broke down, overwhelmed and humbled by the possibility of living in this beautiful home...the perfect home for my family to grow into. When I begged, almost in disbelief, "Can we please have this house for our low offering price?" His answer was consistent time after time..."Trust me." His words were firm. Solid enough for me to rest on.
After a long 48 hours, we finally got an answer on Sunday afternoon. They had countered. They agreed to our extras, but wanted a higher selling price. Toby and I discussed and prayed. We took in some counsel, prayed some more and slept on it. Monday morning we put in another counter offer. We met them in the middle on price and asked that they throw in blinds. They accepted. *insert Jesus' happy dance* The monster house was ours! I was lost and dizzy with shock. God had really given us this house. Really! I was amazed! When we headed over that afternoon to sign the final papers and show the house to our kids, the listing agent was as shocked as we were. He kept saying, "I've never seen this before...I can't believe they took that...I'm as shocked as anybody." A door that man couldn't open was no match for my Jesus!
We will close on both houses on February 29, but the excitement far outweighs the stress. I've collected lots of boxes and have a good jump start on packing up our stuff. At the time of this writing, we've got 12 days to go!
In hind sight, I am so grateful for our 18 month detour in the flip house. Had we moved straight from Tennessee into this big house, we would be tempted to take the credit...a successful career, the next step toward the American dream. This way, God clearly showed us that He is in control and He is the giver of good things. We never, never thought we would ever own a home of this size or caliber. In fact, "not on our radar" remember...we had marked this floorplan off during our initial search. It was simply too expensive to even entertain. We never considered it. My Jesus not only opened the door, but gave us immeasurably more than anything we deserve. We will boast in Him and share this story with all who enter our new house.
Speaking of "not on our radar"...Toby's parents have a house in California and have wanted desperately to live close to my kids. In fact, their house has been on and off the market for two years with little activity. They listed it again in September and once things started shaking in our world a month ago, Toby set forth a challenge for them...get on your face and with thanksgiving, present your request to God. We settled the contract on our new house on Monday. On Tuesday, they received an offer on theirs. Coincidence...of course not! In the last week, they have come to an agreement with their buyer and put in an offer on a house in West Mobile....in our neighborhood! MiMi and Pop will no longer be a plane ride away, on the other side of the country. They will be a red wagon ride away! We are all thrilled to live close to them, but more than that we are excited to watch God reveal His great power and His great love in their lives. They have a front row seat in an amazing adventure.
The last three weeks have been almost too much to bear. My mind is still spinning with all of the changes happening so quickly, but I know He's not through yet. We're holding on and waiting for the next big reveal!
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