The goods just keep on comin'

"Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Luke 6:38

We've had an amazing week! In the past 24 hours we sold our little house and became the proud owners of our new home. As with anything my Jesus does, He has offered beautiful confirmation and blessing upon blessings.

We know, that we know that our little home in Saraland is going to the perfect couple, hand picked by my Abba. On Friday, January 27 our little house went live on MLS and on Saturday morning I went to Toby and said, "Something's going to happen today...4 o'clock." He didn't know what I was talking about. I said, "Something's going to happen today at 4. A showing. Elaine's going to call around lunchtime and tell us that she wants to show the house at 4." He shrugged, "Ok, we'll see." Well, 4 o'clock came and went and there was no showing. As we were climbing into bed, Toby said, "Well, I guess you were wrong about the 4 o'clock thing?" Totally confident, I replied, "Nope. Something significant happened today at 4. Just not sure yet what it was."

The next day, we met a sweet young couple in front of our house. We started chatting with them and instantly fell in love with them. It was one of those awesome "spirit recognizes spirit" type things. She loves my Jesus...I could tell by her eyes. With the excitement of a new bride she mentioned that they just got engaged the day before. A few weeks later Toby had a chance to chat with Ben and asked him an almost awkward question, "So you got engaged the day before we met you. About what time was that?" HA!! You guessed it..."I picked her up about 4 O'CLOCK for a date and I proposed around 5:30." I knew it! I love how my sweet Jesus gives us those little glimpses into his planning and scheming...confirmation to my heart that we are indeed smack in the middle of His will!

Yesterday we closed on the little house and I was given one more chance to hug Kristy's sweet neck and tell her how excited I am for her to have such a sweet house to start her marriage. I know Abba is going to bless them beyond measure. He has been preparing our home for them. The new stainless appliances, the beautiful marble shower in the master bathroom...those things weren't for us. They only went in six weeks ago. They were for Ben and Kristy! He loves us, all of us, so much!

Today we closed on our new, big house and God's sweet goodness continues to overflow. First, we had the funds wired from yesterday's closing to today's closing agent. I had run the numbers in the last few days based on good faith estimates and fully expected to bring another $500 or so to closing to cover the difference we needed to buy our new house. In search of the exact amount I needed to bring, I repeatedly called the mortgage company. I finally got an answer to my question. We didn't need to bring any money to closing. I had miscalculated and we were going home with a refund check!

While we were signing the mountain of papers in front of us, we came to the breakdown on our monthly mortgage payment. I had to do a double take. Our monthly payment was a full $100 less than what had been estimated! Toby and I sat down a few weeks ago and planned out our budget based on the higher number...this lower payment is just bonus!

And...when we came to an agreement on our contract a few weeks ago, we negotiated for the builder to add a fridge. (We had already agreed to leave our fridge in the little house for Ben and Kristy...another gift for them.) Not paying attention to detail, the builder offered to give us the standard fridge. Toby learned later that a bigger fridge was available for an additional $150. On a "side deal" we brought the builder's agent a check for $150 in exchange for him ordering the bigger fridge instead. Today's closing agent handed us our check back. I was confused as to how she got it and why she was giving it back to us. Basically, because we didn't include the "deal" in the contract, the additional $150 wasn't properly included in the sales price. Turns out the builder didn't feel like adjusting the sales price all the way through the paperwork for a measly $150, so they just gave it back to us. In essence, we got the bigger fridge for free. My sweet Jesus is so full of bonuses!

I did some quick number crunching tonight. I added up everything we'd "sunk" into the little house...purchase price, 3 rounds of renovations, and 3 years of mortgage payments on it when it was vacant. Wouldn't you know that God gave back all that we thought we had lost with the steal we got on our new house. If we were to build our exact house today, it would cost an arm and a leg more than we're having to pay. He does, indeed, restore all that was lost...and then some. Not only did He restore, but we're getting back more. More financially, and more of Him. We are entering the next season of our lives with more intimacy with Him and greater wisdom than what we would have had if we hadn't made the "mistake" of buying our little flip house back in 2007. "He works all things together for good..." Romans 8:28.

Haley and Jake

The fun part is, Toby and I are nothing special. We have simply decided to follow Him in all things and He has been faithful to pour out Himself and His blessings. He is no respecter of persons. He would love to do all of this for you. Do your dreams blow your mind? Are you believing for the impossible? If not, I'm going to challenge you to dream bigger! He is BIG and He wants to give BIG, so put yourself out there and prepare to receive!

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." 2 Chronicles 16:9

Thank you Jesus for this amazing gift of our new home. Please help us to always remember that it is YOURS and to steward all of Your blessings well. Help us to never forget all that You have done and to never miss an opportunity to share Your goodness!

Haley and Jake enjoying the small things in life

Immeasurably more

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

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!

Fimiliar territory...unfamiliar result

Those of you who have been following me from the beginning know that we are living in a little house that my sweet Jesus has turned into our home. You can read the full story here. We bought this house almost five years ago in hopes of getting rich quick. That, of course, backfired as it sat on the market sucking us dry for three, long years until finally God put us in it. It's all a crazy story. I moved in kicking and screaming, but 18 months later I've become a little attached to the place.

We live in Saraland, a little town outside of Mobile, Alabama. It's at least a 30 minute drive to get anywhere, but it's just become normal. We have grown into a rhythm and our small floor plan works well for my little ones. In fact, I assumed we'd be here at least until Toby finished school in a few years. This past Christmas we had lots of family visiting and things were cramped, but we all made due. I was caught off guard when Toby came up behind me as I was working feverishly to entertain our family and whispered, "Next Christmas we'll be in a new house." What? What are you talking about. I actually like it here now. I'm not sure I want to move yet. The idea fell away as I was still convinced we were going to be here for at least another year. After all, we'd just put in new stainless appliances and a beautiful master shower.

During the month of January our church spent 21 days in prayer and fasting. On the first Monday of this season, Toby drove down to West Mobile for an hour of prayer before driving on to work. After leaving the chapel, it took him a beautiful 15 minutes to get to work...he was thrilled. He called me that morning, excited about the day we would move to West Mobile. I dismissed the thought with an absent minded, "Yeah, that will be nice." Toby's pattern continued all week...drive to West Mobile early in the morning, prayer for the people of Mobile, short drive to work. Each day his heart broke a little more for the people of West Mobile and each evening he came home more excited about what God was teaching him and showing him.

By the second week of prayer and fasting, Toby was convinced that it was time to move to West Mobile. Not completely sold on the idea, I agreed to pray over it and be open. After a few days I began to get a little excited myself...being close to our church, our friends, and Toby's work. It was definitely appealing, but a piece of me didn't want to leave our little house that I had come to love. At the end of the second week, I came to Toby with my response, "If it were up to me, we'd stay here. However, I know that you have spent countless hours with Jesus in the last two weeks, and as the head of our household, I will trust and support whatever decision you make." He was so sweet about controlling his excitement until he knew I was on board, and so we prayed through the weekend. From there, my Jesus took over at lightning speed...

Wednesday, January 25
We met with our realtor, Elaine, to list the house. We gave her pictures of my pretty house, signed the necessary paperwork, and prayed for God to be glorified through this process.

Friday, January 27
Our little house went live on MLS for all the world to see. Now we just wait...

Sunday, January 29
NOON - Our prayer for our house changed from "let it sell quickly" to "let it sell quickly to the perfect buyer." We envisioned "perfect" as a sweet family who loved Jesus, would take good care of our home, and would love on our neighbors.

2:30pm - On my way to the car I noticed a red mustang sitting in front of the house. It was an awkward moment...I see you, you see me, do I pretend you're not there?, you're not driving away...uh... So, being the nosy person that I am, I decided to walk over and say hello. After all, if I were looking for a house, I'd love a chance to chat with the owners. Inside this shiny, red mustang was a sweet, young couple. We'll call them Ben and Kristy. They had just gotten engaged the day before and were driving around looking at houses after church. Kristy commented on our South Coast Church sign in the yard and asked about our pastor...by name. Weird. She then told me that they were actively involved with a church here in Saraland and they knew our pastor's brother, who is on staff at their church. Huh, small world. They were clearly in love with each other and my Jesus and seemed interested in seeing more of the house.

5:30pm - We got a call from Elaine. Ben and Kristy wanted to see the inside!

Tuesday, January 31
I worked until after midnight the night before...cleaning, scrubbing and straightening. God had made it clear that my job in this season was to work on selling our house and I wanted to do it to the best of my ability. Two hours before our first showing I put apples sprinkled with cinnamon in the oven and oh how they smelled delicious! At 3:50 I loaded the kids in the car and off we went. At 5:00 we drove through the neighborhood, only to find that they were still touring our home and had called Ben's dad over to see the place. Elaine told me later that the first time Kristy walked onto my back patio and saw the inscription, she was sold. Our Jesus is so good! They stayed until after 6:00 and prayed with Elaine in the front yard before going home. They promised to call the next day.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Toby and I checked our phones every ten minutes...willing it to ring. But Elaine didn't call. There was no word from Ben and Kristy. Honestly, I was bummed. But what are you going to do? You can't force somebody to love your house. We'd been here before. The real estate market is one of those things that we have no control over...only my Jesus does.

Another showing was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but just a bit before their appointment the buyers cancelled. He had been called into work. The waiting continued...

Sunday, February 5
This is the two year anniversary of when God stopped us in our tracks and called us back to Mobile. A fork in the road for the rest of our days. If you haven't already, I hope you'll take a minute to read about that day here...it was amazing! We went to our Sunday service with an excitement and celebration over all that God had done in two years. We also thought it no coincidence that our house was in limbo again on this very day. He's so fun like that.

1:00pm - Elaine called and, as usual, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of her name on my caller ID. Another showing was scheduled for later that afternoon. Initially I thought it was the couple who had cancelled from the day before, but after making Elaine repeat herself three times I finally understood...it was Ben and Kristy! They wanted to see the house, "just one more time." Ahh, the excitement was crazy. Toby and I did a huge happy dance...and then promptly rushed home to pick up the toys, clothes, and dishes that were littered all over our house. Oh, and we baked some more apples...couldn't hurt. :)

6:00pm - Elaine calls again, "Where would you like to meet to discuss this offer?" NO WAY!! Jesus gave us an offer ON our two year anniversary of the fork in the road and after only one buyer and 10 days on the market! How big is He?!? He's bigger than the real estate market...that's for sure. So we met with Elaine that night, made a counter offer and went home floating in God's faithfulness.

Friday, February 10
Yes, FRIDAY! We heard nothing back all week and I was so frustrated and so anxious. Anyway, just after lunch Toby's phone finally rang. Ben had been really busy with work that week and extended another counter offer. Toby accepted it and it was done!! We had a contract!

The selling of our home is not only a blessing and answered prayer for me and Toby, but it's a beautiful blessing for Ben and Kristy and for our neighbors. We had prayed for God to give our house to someone who loves Him, someone who would continue to love on our neighbors and I know they will. Through this process my Jesus gave a sweet gift of confirmation to Kristy. During their second visit to our home, Kristy and Elaine were standing in the kitchen chatting. Kristy shared that they had set their wedding date for June and she's already picked out the flowers she would carry...white hydrangea. Elaine said, "You mean like those?" as she pointed to the fresh, cut flowers on my kitchen table. I love fresh flowers and made a special trip to Fresh Market to pick the perfect ones for my table. I debated between the hydrangea and a bouquet of mixed flowers. In the end, I remembered carrying white hydrangea in my wedding and thought that was special, so I went with them. Little did I know that my Jesus would use those same flowers as a sweet gift of love for our buyers...He cares about the little things and knows just how to speak to our hearts.

My sweet Jesus laid a move on our hearts and in a month our house was sold. We were forced to watch our house sit on the market for three, long years when we tried to sell it in our own strength and with our plan. But when God says, "Move" you better start packing! And packing we have started. Ben and Kristy want to close by the end of the month. Hooray! But wait...where are we going? We've got three weeks to find a house, close on it, pack, and move. We may be a little worried, but He's not pressed for time. I can't wait to tell you what He's got up His sleeve...

Free stuff

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows." Malachi 3:10

Our pastor has a saying..."You can't out give God." We are here to share that that can't be more true. God has given back to us more in the past year than we have ever given Him...it's almost comical.

From the beginning of our marriage, Toby and I have committed to tithe, a tenth of our income, to the Lord. Despite our financial season, feast or famine, we have been firm in this monthly giving...and God has opened the windows of heaven!

When we moved to Tennessee in 2008, Toby surprised me with a "happy moving" present. The day we pulled into Knoxville, we stopped by the AT&T store and picked up my new iPhone. At the time, he had a company phone, but was always jealous of my toy. A few months later Toby's company took back their phones and we were left to provide our own service. Of course, Toby went straight for an iPhone, but God had told him no. For whatever reason, God didn't want him to have this toy. I'm guessing He knew how much time it would steal. Despite His warnings, Toby marched himself to the store and came home with an iPhone anyway. Well, because my Jesus has a sense of humor, Toby's new phone started malfunctioning a few weeks later. Apple's tech support was baffled, "Man, I don't know what's wrong with your phone. I've never seen that. Send it back, we'll send you another one." Toby didn't make the connection and traded his phone in. Long story short, the new phone also broke with no explanation...and so did the third. Toby finally caught on and begrudgingly settled for a "basic" phone. So, here's the good part...four days before Jake was born in July, Toby walked out on our front porch to find a box sitting there with his name on it. He brought it in, curious, opened it and was shocked at it's contents. A letter..."Dear Mr. Toby, Please accept this iPad 2..." WHAT?!??

He tore into the rest of the package...sure enough, there sat a sealed, brand new, 32 GB iPad 2. He nearly jumped out of his skin. After going back to the letter he learned that his company had mailed out a two question survey back in January. I had opened the mail that day, filled it out and sent it back without a second thought. Out of all the returned entries, company wide, worldwide, they had a drawing and Toby won the iPad! So, Jesus was testing Toby...I asked you not to buy and iPhone and to be obedient, and in this case He had something even cooler waiting in the wings! Woot woot!

Another cool gift...Toby's old boss at work was transferred to China and asked him to come to his house and help him tear down his kids' playset. The people who had bought his house were older and had no need for it. It was a nice, wooden playset...one we never would have spent the money on, but would have loved to have. Toby asked, "Well, what are you going to do with it?" "Uh, I guess we'll just haul it to the dump." Hesitantly Toby asks, "Would you mind if I just took it off your hands?" And just like that a $400 playset was headed to our house...without a dime from our pockets. And as a cherry on top, Toby noticed some railroad ties lying around the plant where he works. After inquiring about them he was told they were up for grabs. The next day he took our trailer to work, gathered up an intern, and loaded them up. Our Haley has enjoyed hours of fun on this sweet gift from Jesus.
And the gifts just keep on coming...a friend that Toby works with recently built a new house and paid an upgrade fee for stainless kitchen appliances. Once they moved in they decided they wanted something a little more upscale. The friend mentioned this to Toby in passing, so Toby inquired, "How much are you asking for the others?" After a brief chat with his wife, he came back and said, "Well, why don't you just pay us the upgrade fee that we paid when we built the house." So, for $650 our kitchen now boasts a new stainless steel dishwasher, range and microwave...and that doesn't even take into account the $240 we've received from selling some of our old appliances. Now, was there a need for new, pretty appliances? No. Do I enjoy cooking for my family on new, pretty appliances instead of the coil top stove we had before? You better believe it. Are you catching on? God doesn't always stick to our needs...sometimes He loves to throw in a bonus.

While we're on the subject of updating our little house, my shower has always grossed me out. Somewhere along the way, a previous owner decided to handicap enable it...minus the necessary skill. The panels didn't cover the sheetrock right, the grout was all but gone, the flooring didn't drain right and black mold grew everywhere. I felt like I needed shower shoes in my own home...gross. When we first moved in we talked about replacing it, but because of the poor construction we concluded that the cost of renovation outweighed the necessity, so we just lived with it. A few months ago the topic came up again with my brother-in-law who owns a marble shop in town. He came out and looked at it, "Oh yeah, we can put in a 19" tub and surround walls...no problem. It'll look good." And with that the ball started rolling. It still cost us a bit, but we got a great "family discount." His work was wonderful and instead of a sense of arrogance and entitlement I would have had if we'd replaced the shower when we moved in, now I step into my shower with a sense of extreme gratitude. And by the way, do you have any idea how deep a 19" tub is...it's glorious!

And the gifts don't stop there...we've had tons of other small "happies" land in our lap. Nearly every week for the past few weeks we've received a random check in the mail...unexpected copay refunds, gifts from old friends, a safety award from work. He is so good and so generous. But you see, He doesn't do all of this just for me or for Toby...He does it for you. Yes, you there. He wants you to know how good He is and that what He's done for me, He would love to do for you, too. There's nothing special or "super spiritual" about us. We're just ordinary people, just like you, who have decided to be obedient in all things and then stood back to watch the rain. I am firmly convinced that the more we want to know Him and the more we freely give...the more He pours out. Our blessings this year are not only financial, they're simply the most visible. Even greater blessings than these include a strengthened marriage, healthy children, financial peace, and Godly, encouraging, life giving relationships. He is so good.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:8
Go ahead...test Him. He is always faithful and would love nothing more than to pour out blessing upon blessing on you, too. Are you ready to receive it?

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!

"The borrower is slave to the lender" Proverbs 22:7

We are thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to have reached a HUGE goal for our family! First and foremost, this post is not meant to brag, but to give total glory to Jesus for the work He's done in our hearts, our lives, and our finances over the last few years.

So let me start by filling you in on the details. Early on in our marriage, Toby and I wanted to take some sort of Christian finance course for years - be it Dave Ramsey, Crown Financial, whatever. We just wanted to learn truth in this area and operate our finances from Biblical principles. At this time we were both working during the day and I was either working late nights for tax season or spending hours on end at the library in preparation for the CPA exam. So the timing just never really worked out...the times these classes were offered were not "convenient" for us. I've since learned, that we do what we really want to do and honestly, we just didn't make this as big of a priority as we should have earlier in our marriage.

Fast forward a few years...Toby got transferred to Tennessee and I quit my job to stay home with sweet Haley. Out of desperation for adult interaction, I started attending a moms group at a local church in Knoxville. While I never really clicked with any of the moms, other than the two that invited me, I still felt like I was suppose to go. Turns out that during my second semester in the group the course "Financial Peace University" by Dave Ramsey was offered as a choice. I was thrilled! Now, this was a "bare bones" version because they didn't charge the big fee (good thing, because we were broke) and we didn't get the materials, but we would watch the videos together each week. While Toby and I wanted to go through it together, I figured this was better than nothing, so I jumped on the opportunity. After two or three weeks, every one else in the class seemed to disappear and I was left alone. Several times I was left to watch the video...alone as even the leader went off to do other things. I didn't mind...at least I was getting exposure to this awesome information. Anyway, after two weeks of solitude, the leader asked me, "Do you just want to take the DVDs home a few at a time and watch them with your husband?" What?!? I was floored! So over the next few months, Toby and I watched the entire 13 lesson program...together, in our own time, with a chance to discuss it afterward. We were so grateful for this miracle!

Dave talks a lot about being debt free and now we can totally understand his point. Debt puts you in bondage and ties up your resources. It keeps you from being able to do other things for His kingdom with your finances. For us, we now know that we will serve in the ministry at some point, and God is positioning us to live "comfortably" with little or no income.

So we finished the DVDs in the fall of 2009 and took a good hard look at our financial situation. For the sake of giving God ALL the glory, I will go against all cultural norms and give you real numbers. At the close of 2009, here is what we were faced with:

$ 195,000 - mortgage on our TN house
$ 77,800 - mortgage on our vacant AL rental house
$ 8,300 - Toby's student loans
$ 19,400 - Carey's student loans
=$ 300,500 - total debt

Our monthly debt payments were as follows:
$ 1,400 - mortgage on our TN house
$ 918 - mortgage on our AL rental house
$ 82 - Toby's student loans
$ 173 - Carey's student loans
=$2,573 - total cash going out of our hands to the debtors each month

Now, you can do the math here. Toby had a great job, but once you tack on groceries, utilities, gasoline, etc, etc, etc...things were tight to say the least! However, as hard as those days were, God forced us to learn some really hard lessons. Lessons about stewarding His money well, lessons that we will carry for the rest of our lives. In those days, the choice laid out before me was A - get a job and put Haley in daycare or B - figure out how to stretch a buck. Since it was my heart's desire to be home with my babies, I got busy stretching away. We put Haley in cloth diapers, I made all of her baby food, I learned from a friend how to make my own laundry detergent, I learned all about cutting coupons and planning our meals around what was on sale. We rarely went out to eat and if we did it was to the cheap Mexican place where they would serve us endless free chips and salsa and we could split a $5 quesadilla. Most lunch dates consisted of sandwiches from home in the back end of my 4Runner, backed up to the river. Honestly, those are some of my favorite memories from Tennessee. We also learned that life went along just fine without fancy dinners out, new clothes, luxury cars, or extravagant toys for our daughter. God had blessed us with an incredible amount and we were learning that the "American dream" is not all it's cracked up to be. We were finally content with what we had and were able to take stock of things and start digging out from under our debt. [See the $ Savers tab for details.]

So, how did we get from there to here? Yes, we cut back tremendously in those first few months, but the monumental changes are all tied to the miracles God worked in moving us back to Alabama. In February 2010, God told Toby to quit his job, move us back to Alabama, attend "seminary" and live in our little vacant house. If you haven't heard this story, please take the time to read it...God is SO good! Anyway, after months of no job prospects in Mobile, one finally landed on the scene. With it came full relocation, additional funds for moving and temporary housing expenses, and they bought our TN house from us...for what we paid for it, even though it had declined in value during the two years we lived there. This was our starting point. So that takes care of our TN mortgage and we were able to put some of the extra moving funds toward Toby's student loans and knock them out. That alone was a huge relief...to finally have some breathing room in our finances!

Once we moved into our tiny, vacant rental house (that conveniently God was holding on to for us...haha, the joke's on us!) we refinanced the mortgage to get out from under PMI, cut the loan term to 15 years instead of 30, and significantly reduce the interest rate. Even with reducing the life of the loan, our mortgage payment now is still lower than it was before.

Over the course of the nine months that we've been in Mobile, we have been slowly chipping away at my student loans. Our pastors, John and Tracy, have said a million times, "You can't out-give God." One of the biggest things I admire about Toby is the stance he took at the very beginning of our marriage. He said, "No matter how tough things get, we will always give our tithe." And so we have. Faithfully, with each paycheck we have cheerfully turned over to God what belongs to Him...even though there were days I would day dream about how far that money would go, from my perspective anyway. We kept up our end of the deal when we moved to Mobile and with our first taste of financial freedom we began to offer above our tithe...a huge joy for my heart! Well, I think John and Tracy are right. For months now we have been receiving random checks in the mail...a refund on a utility bill from TN, or an overpayment due to a miscalculation on the closing of our refinance, or a dividend check I hadn't thought about...it seemed like the money just kept coming in! It was crazy! Now, nothing was huge...$40 here, $70 there, but those things add up and we knew where they were coming from. So all of those things combined with Toby's income and freedom from not paying other debtors each month, my student loan balance was falling quickly and yesterday I made the last payment...the payoff amount! It was a day that I never thought I'd see!

So, we still have our mortgage on our little Alabama house, but it's next in line. Again, I tell you all of this not to brag or boast of any wonderful thing we've done, but to point all glory to Jesus! He is the one who put the resources in our hands. He is the one who changed our hearts. He is the one who provided the new, amazing job. He is the one who provided the resources to give us the freedom He wants us to have. He is the one who paid off over $200,000 in debt in 18 months. We are thrilled to have this weight off of our shoulders, but even more so to be in a position to serve Him in whatever capacity He asks because we are not bound by these obligations anymore!

You can do this too. I promise, it can be done! But you must be intentional and you must seek His help. He will guide your heart and give you wisdom to walk it out. If you've overcome this hurdle, I would love to hear your story. Please feel free to post a comment or send me an email at soakinginlife@gmail.com.

Stuff, stuff and more stuff

The moving truck showed up Monday morning and immediately began working in a fury. We knew that moving from 2,100 sq feet to just under 1,100 sq feet would pose some challenges, but we had no idea how it would all work out. We planned to take advantage of the moving company's "unpack" option, but I set up post in the living room, unpacking one box at a time trying feverishly to keep up with them as they unloaded the furniture. I have to say, I did pretty well up until lunch time. Once the furniture was unloaded and somewhat in place, the boxes quickly became overwhelming and seemed never ending! Due to our tiny master bedroom and massive California king size bed, we opted for the master bedroom boxes to go outside on the porch. We downsized from two walk-in closets to one tiny closet...some (a lot) of stuff was going to have to go! Fortunately, we bought a shed and had it set up during our six weeks here without furniture and it quickly became the default for anything from the garage, yard, or otherwise miscellaneous.

The back patio loaded with master bedroom boxes.

The shed, all be it unorganized, loaded to the brim.

I am so grateful that Toby's dad stayed the whole week with us to help unpack and tackle the seemingly endless project list. My mom kept Haley so we could work without having to structure the day around nap times and early bed times. By the time Haley came home on Thursday morning, her room was finished and the rest of the house was in some semblance of order. She walked into the living room, took in her surroundings and then flopped on the floor as if to say, "I know this stuff...this is my stuff." Next, we took her to her big girl room, complete with all of her toys, books, new curtains and a chest full of dress up clothes and accessories. Again, she flopped on the floor with great relief and what seemed like understanding. In the days since, she has loved her big girl room and often plays in there by herself. While it was really sad to say goodbye to her baby days in Tennessee, it's kind of fun to think of her turning into a little girl here in this house.

After the movers unpacked all of our boxes, except those belonging in the master bedroom, we started to shove things in every nook and cranny our little house offers. And when I say the movers "unpacked" our boxes, that really means they took everything out of the boxes in a matter of minutes and piled their contents on any flat surface available. The chaos was ridiculous, but with many hands working it didn't take long before some vague sense of order was established. We quickly realized that all of our stuff was not going to fit in our new, tiny home, so we started a yard sale pile. What? It's good stuff, no need to throw it away when somebody else could find good use for it, right? Crazy that on Tuesday a friend came over to help organize and she mentioned that they are having a yard sale this coming Saturday. Ha! My sweet Jesus knew that was coming and He set up a way for us to pay forward our blessings. Just as we were so incredibly blessed by our friends in Knoxville with our yard sale in April, we were now in a place to pass it on here in Mobile!

I am very pleased to report that we have made monumental progress in the last week with getting our house settled. We have pictures on the walls and no more cardboard boxes inside, but we've still got a ways to go. Anybody that has ever moved knows that it takes several weeks to get things "settled"...shuffling the spatulas, knives and cereal in the kitchen cabinets, figuring out how to transfer the laundry from the washer to the dryer since they are on opposite sides here, and establishing a home for the daily mail to land in the afternoons. All of these things take time, but after being here for nearly two months, the unrest is starting to get to me. I'm ready for normal again and the establishment of a new routine. When do we do laundry and go grocery shopping? When do we have play dates with friends and run errands? When do we clean the house and meet Toby for lunch? This new normal is what I'm missing. Because we have lived in five places in the six years we've been married, we've been here before...this unrest, and I know that things will come into a routine in time. It's just a matter of patience.

My sweet Jesus used my sweet Toby to speak straight to my heart yesterday. Just as this unrest became stifling, there was a knock on the door. On the other side stood a woman holding two beautiful bouquets of flowers. Totally confused I asked her to set them down and I noticed that my name was on both cards. I opened them and read, "A little something to brighten up our new home," and "I hope you like your new room, sweetie. Your daddy loves you!" Toby even went as far as to get yellow flowers to match our kitchen and purple ones to match Haley's room. He told me later that Jesus told him to send them. For those of you that don't know me, I love fresh flowers. There is nothing else that makes my home feel more welcoming and settled than fresh flowers on the kitchen table. This gift was exactly what my soul needed on that dreary afternoon.

Possess the land

"See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 1:21

possession - to occupy (be driving out previous tenants and possessing in their place); by implication to seize; to rob, to inherit, also to expel

I have spent the last year in the Pentateuch with my Boothmakers and we have been studying the life of Moses and the journey of the nation of Israel. While my tiny house in Saraland, Alabama is no promised land, we have been commanded to take possession of it. When God called the Israelites to take the Promised Land, He did not ask them to merely live there and inhabit it for a while. He wanted them to take it away from the enemy's control, to redeem it and use it for His glory! The last few weeks have felt this way for me with our little house. While we do have a roof over our heads and all the other basic necessities, this house is meant to be more than a place to endure for a few years until something new comes along. Our command here is to possess it! We are to be offensive in seizing this property, sending out the enemy and taking it from his control. We are to redeem it and make it a holy place for the Spirit to freely dwell.

On the surface level, this has been a fairly difficult task, seeing as nearly all of our belongings are still in another state. For you wives out there, I know you understand. There is a nesting instinct that God gives us to make our homes a haven for our families. My sweet Jesus has seen my nesting struggle with only an air mattress and card table to work with and has sent me off on a new project this week...decorating Haley's room. Strangely, because she got a "big girl bed" when we moved, she has more furniture at the moment than the rest of the house. This past weekend I worked with my mom to pick out fabric for curtains and brainstorm some other ideas. Yesterday I painted the letters of her name for her wall and today I painted circles on the walls to match a fabric we picked out. Now, for those of you who don't know me...I'm an accountant, not an artist. In fact, I have always considered myself in serious lack of creativity and artistic ability. Even if I were to come up with some fun idea, I wouldn't have the artsy instincts to pull it off, it would look ridiculous. This being said, God gave me a Bezalel day today! (Again, from the world of Moses...Bezalel was given supernatural ability to envision and construct the holy objects for the tabernacle in the wilderness...cool story, check it out...Exodus 35:30-35) Knowing that I do not possess the artistic ability to paint, my Jesus gave me the creativity to envision and ability to execute some really cute circles on the walls of my baby girl's bedroom. I know this may seem silly, but it has done wonders in making this house our possession. I can start to envision our lives progressing here...Haley growing up, bringing home a new baby, learning about ministry, and sharing my Jesus with my neighbors. It is these visions that are making this house my possession. We have taken it back from Satan's control and are turning it into a home and a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

Operation Cookie Dropoff - Phase 4
So, months ago my Jesus gave me 5 houses on our street that I am suppose to initiate relationships with. Tonight I delivered cookies to house number 4. The husband was home, but I didn't meet the wife. Their front lawn boasts scripture and University of Alabama paraphernalia. The scripture got me excited and I decided to excuse the UA stuff. (For those of you outside the state borders, the Alabama/Auburn rivalry is intense and all state residents are required to pick a side...we happen to be loyal Auburn fans.) This gentleman was very nice and seemed genuinely interested in our story. He shared openly about his love for the Lord and I am looking forward to getting to know this family better. Like every other neighbor we've met, he had a few stories about the previous owners of our house, none of which cast them in a nice light. Just another reminder that Satan no longer has authority over this property and that we are on the offensive to take the rest of this neighborhood back for Jesus!

Now, let me tell you how smart my Jesus is...five houses, right? The two on either side of us, the one directly across the street, one two houses down on the corner and the last is on the corner of the next street on the other side. I didn't think much of this until we moved in, but there is a house between the one across the street and the one I visited tonight. I wondered why I wasn't suppose to go there, and figured I'd "pick it up" after I finished my specific five. I didn't want to leave anybody out and that seems odd given that it's in the middle of the others. Well, come to find out...the guy that owns the house on the corner that I met tonight, also owns the one next to him...the one not on my list. His sister-in-law used to live there, but as of February of this year, that house is vacant! Haha!! No wonder Jesus left that one off my list! Sheesh! When will I learn to follow directions? He is so in control and so has a plan. I'm curious about the last house on my list and will be anxious to share it with you next week. Until then, keep chasing after Him...He's all good!

A little history first...

I married my high school sweetheart, Toby, in 2004 and moved to Mobile, Alabama in 2005. We were a DINK couple (double income, no kids) and thoroughly enjoyed the benefits that came with that status. In 2007, house flipping was all the rage (aka the newest reality TV phenomenon, not that we knew anyone personally who had tackled this successfully) so we decided to jump on that band wagon. With a 95% mortgage on the "flip house" and relying on our home equity line we forged ahead. No biggie, it's just going to be a few months until it sells...right?

The 1,100 square foot house we chose was in foreclosure at the time and the previous owners were not so happy to vacate the premise. There were holes in the walls and doors, cabinets hanging off their hinges, and a horrid commercial blue carpet throughout. For two dreamers with a little vision, this place was a gold mine! We'd change the carpet, patch the holes, toss on some fresh paint, throw it back on the market and walk away with $20 grand...easy as that!

We bought the house in July 2007. Two realtors, endless open houses, numerous price reductions, and one set of destructive renters later, we were still sitting on it in August 2008...