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!
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