A Tale of Two Houses

As many of you know, we’ve been trying to sell our house now for about fifteen months. I say fifteen because it’s been so long we’re not really sure how long it’s been, so we say fifteen. It’s been a long and arduous process that we wouldn’t wish on anyone. I wish I could write and tell you that Nick and I were able to totally trust God to sell our house, and we endured this difficult time with nothing but patience and perseverance. But alas, deep down we constantly lost faith in His ability to sell it, and became spiritually, emotionally, and financially drained by the entire process. Prayers for God to sell our house turned into incessant begging with hearts that often didn’t believe the Lord could do what we were asking of Him. After all, our house is in the wrong neighborhood, lacks proper fencing, is on a noisy street, and the basement ceiling is just too low. But, as the Scripture says, with God all things are possible, and our house has finally SOLD!

But wait, there’s more! Our house selling alone is indeed something to be celebrated—but the Lord in His grace has blessed us with a huge blessing at just the right time concerning where we will live next.

A couple of Wednesdays ago, Nick’s employer (a commercial real estate executive) told him about a property they had purchased. It included 50 acres of land, on which stands an old, gorgeous, historical farmhouse. They plan to build apartments on the land, but want to keep the farmhouse intact to turn into the clubhouse for the apartments. However, they had qualms about leaving the farmhouse sit for a year or longer, afraid that vandals would have their way with it and that there would be plumbing problems if the pipes weren’t used for awhile. So—this is amazing—they asked us to live in it until the apartments have neared completion—for FREE! (up to 3 years)

We were elated when we learned of the possibility that we could live there. But at that time, we still had to sell our house. Well, the very day afterward, a couple of construction contractors came and looked at our house. The day after that, we signed a contract with them. In less than a week, we will close on our house. Talk about God’s timing!

Now it seems that all that time spent trying to sell our house was well worth it. We remember at times saying to each other “God must be preparing the perfect place for us to live next since this seems to be taking FOREVER!” He was indeed. One of the uncountable things that we love about our Lord is that He blesses His people when they are so far from deserving anything good. We do not deserve this blessing—we have so much to learn about being wiser with our finances, being patient, and persevering, but still the Lord, in an outpouring of His grace, has blessed us in this and many other ways we don’t deserve. In just the past couple of years, the Lord has blessed us with a beautiful and healthy daughter, free seminary tuition for Nick, a free car, a free motorcycle and helmets, a caring church community and incredible friends and family, and I’m honestly probably forgetting something right now.

So if anything, we hope that you’re encouraged by this testimony of God’s provision in our lives. If you are in a season of need, know that our Lord knows your needs and can provide for them in immensely bigger ways than you can ever imagine.

We will be moving on October 12th, so if you live in the area and can help us move, please come and celebrate this blessing with us!