The Most Important Thing: Entering into God's Rest!

Well, lots has happened since my last post! As I stated before, there would probably be more obstacles and there has been! 

We ended up losing the foreclosed house we put an offer on. It turns out there were multiple offers on it and after two weeks of waiting, we finally heard the bank picked another offer. It was disappointing but we also had peace because we did all we could and prayed about what we should offer.We wanted to go higher because we didn't want to lose the house, but we stuck with the number God gave us. 

We knew we had been obedient but it was still hard because there was literally nothing new coming on the market worth seeing, especially in the town closest to the church Tom is going to work at and we are going to be parishioners. Tom also was about to leave and I would be left behind with the kids, packing up the house we were going to have to move out of by August 5th with no place to go.

Tom left for the two day drive on July 15th and as soon as he got there on the 16th, he started looking at houses. Finally, the last house he saw on the 17th was the one! It was by far nicer and bigger than anything else we had seen! He sent a text to our realtor and then went to worship with some friends. 

Ironically, the Gospel reading for that Sunday was about Martha and Mary. Mary knew how to sit at the feet of Jesus and worship whereas Martha was anxious about many things. I have come a long way in this area over the years, but in this situation, I was definitely feeling more like Martha and knew Tom was being like Mary. That didn't make it any easier though! I knew it was a hot market and if we didn't stay on top of things, we could lose the house. Finally the realtor got back with him and Tom was able to make an offer. Around 3pm the next day, we found out there was another offer on the house and it was a cash offer. My heart sank! I began praying hard!!! I thought we probably wouldn't hear anything till the next day but just an hour later the seller countered. We originally offered $3k less than the asking price and $4k in closing costs. The seller came back with the same price we offered but only $2k less in closing costs. Yes!!!! I couldn't believe we were going to get the house without even going up to the asking price, with another offer on the table!

Anyway, it is a beautiful house! It doesn't need a thing! It has all new flooring and new paint throughout. They say hind sight is always clearer and that is definitely true in this situation. The first house we put an offer on needed all new floors and an updated kitchen. Tom and I both had a few red flags about that but we ignored them. The reason we had red flags was because as we were getting our house ready to sell, we really felt God was preparing a place for someone through us and he was preparing a place for us up there. With the house we are getting, God is truly in the details. For starters, the whole house is blue! I love the color blue, especially the blue that is in the house. I have always wanted to have blue walls but it never happened. Blue also speaks to me of Mother Mary. I think she might have had a hand in things as well as St. Joseph. St. Joseph is often depicted in pictures holding lilies.There are beautiful lilies in the front of the house! They were definitely interceding for us!

After we lost the first house, people told us it wasn't meant to be then and God would have something else. I think in this case that is true because we prayed hard and had other people praying hard that we would get that house and we still didn't get it. I don't think it is always the case however. I think often we have a tendency to be fatalistic about things but I don't think everything that happens or doesn't happen is necessarily God's will. God can work all things out for good (Romans 8:28) but I don't think everything that happens, happens for a reason.

The devil prowls about the world seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He would love to rob us of our inheritance if we let him. We need to stay awake and be proactive in our faith! It may seem like an oxymoron but we are also called to rest. When we proactively lean back and rest in the Lord and seek his will, he goes before us and he fights for us!

Parting of the Red Sea

I might be premature in writing this blog post as I know there are going to be more miracles to tell and probably more obstacles to overcome but I know things are just going to get busier and I can't wait to share about God's goodness and faithfulness! 

This 4th of July weekend we are in Indianapolis looking for a house. It has not been easy! We are trying to stay under budget because we want to be able to do fun things and not just pay a mortgage. That seems to be the trend now days too as some people are buying tiny houses because they no longer want to be slaves to their stuff and paying out the wazoo for a mortgage.

Anyway, like I said, it has not been easy!!! We thought we were either going to have to settle for a 3 bedroom, 1200 sq. ft. house or a severe fixer upper! We also thought we would have to be 20 to 30 minutes from the church where Tom is going to work. Finally, on the third day (like the Resurrection), we found something decent that happens to also be a foreclosure (which is making it more affordable) and only 10 minutes from the church! It is probably a good thing that it is the last house we saw because if I had seen it first, I may have not been open to. It is really close to the neighbors! We arrived however before our realtor and one of the neighbors happened to be out. She was a young mom with a couple kids. She was really nice and I could see myself being friends with her and our kids being friends as well! I was really hoping I would like the house! We walked in and it didn't smell, so that was a good thing! It also had high ceilings which made it feel bigger even though it was only 1800 sq. ft. It also has 4 bedrooms and an upstairs loft!  The back yard is nice and fenced in and beyond the yard a walking trail that leads to a big community playground! The kids are going to love it! The only thing it needs is new flooring because it currently has green carpet throughout the house.

It will still be an adjustment I'm sure! When we get back to Florida, we will probably have to have a big garage sale to sell a lot of our stuff as we will be going from a 2600 sq. ft. house to an 1800 sq. ft. house but I am excited about it and didn't feel like I had to settle too much.

On the selling end, things are going well too. On Friday, while we were away looking at houses, the inspection was taking place on our house. All 6 of our kids and our dog were in the house. They wanted to at least walk to the ice-cream shop down the road while the inspector and buyers were in the house but it ended up raining. It worked out though and my older daughters said the buyers were really nice, seemed pretty laid back and really like and want our house! It also turns out that they are Christian and even prayed with my kids before they left! It makes me think about how while fixing up and renovating it, I imagined Jesus preparing the house for somebody. He definitely was and I look forward to sharing that with them!

Anyway, things are happening quickly and smoothly. We can't believe it has only been 6 weeks since Tom was offered the job! There have been some things that we thought were going to be big obstacles but they are turning out to be non-issues. He is definitely parting the red sea and we are seeing miracles! I'll have to share more in detail about them later, when everything is complete and we are moved into our new house.