How often do you follow those little nudges during your day? Would you believe me if I said those little nudges led me to our soon to be home?
We had all but given up on finding a house for ourselves. If you've been around the blog for a beat, you may have read about the many times we were told "NO" on the homes we were trying to get into. The market in our area is nuts and the best homes go the fastest. Our only strategy was to get out of the rat race, focus on homeschooling the kiddos, and pick up the search again come the winter {hoping that the competition that time of year would be less}.
Early in August, the hubster had to spend a week in New Orleans working for a client. There was no way I was going to spend a week alone with the 3 kiddos cooped up in our condo, so we went to stay with my in-laws. The Monday before Mike was to return, his mom told me to take the day and go do something alone and leave the kiddos with her and my father-in-law.
I thought about what I should do. Where should I go?
Then a tug in my heart made me want to go "home"...back to the city I grew up in and also spent a lot of time with the hubster in when we were dating. Luckily, "home" was only a 15 minute drive south from where I was staying, so I headed off. As I was driving, though, I asked God to guide me that day...as I always do...I asked him to help me not miss opportunities to share His goodness with people as I go about my day.
My first stop was the Habitat for Humanity ReStore where I found a chair I fell in love with. It had old-time charm to it but needed to be recovered {still does}. I called my mom and asked her if she thought it was do-able and she let me know she was home so I could just stop by with it after I bought it. Oh, and by the way, "There are wicker chairs on the curb across the street but I don't want to go get them until the people there are gone". She told me.
I bought the chair and headed for my parent's house and spotted the wicker chairs...and the people...across the street and something told me to just go ask for them.
I pulled up to the corner, asking the woman there if she would mind. That one question led to her deciding to share her present-tense life with me. Her sister owned that house and she just passed away 2 weeks prior to our conversation. She let me know she would be selling the house and had to get rid of everything inside of it. She also let me know how upset and stressed out she was, now caring for her 16 year old niece who has special needs. But before I left that chat, I asked her if it were OK that I pray for her. Her face became so relieved. She sighed a great big sigh. "Yes! PLEASE pray for me. I've really got my work cut out for me here."
I had her name and phone number written on a napkin. She told me to call her in a couple weeks if I were interested in buying the house. She was going to have someone give her an estimate of value and contact an agent to sell it.
Well, some time went by and the hubster and I agreed we could at least find out what she was going to ask for it. And I kept meaning to call her, I just kept getting sidetracked for whatever reason. Finally, a day and time came when the kiddos were calm and content and I felt a strong urge to call her right then. I called and she told me I had great timing. She had an asking price and an agent ready to list the house for sale. She also said she would show us the house that night.
We looked at the house and were blown away. For me, I remembered spending time there and in that yard as a little girl. But looking at the home as a mom of three little ones, I saw SO much potential for the space and knew our family could be quite comfortable there. After our walk through, we had a chat with the woman about our intentions. "If you're interested, the agent won't even list the house." We were told. And that didn't really hit me right away because I wanted to make sure she knew I had been praying for her every day like I told her I would.
I squeezed her hand and told her she was in my prayers from the day I met her. At first she tried to joke and laugh it off. I looked her in the eye and said "I mean it. I want you to know you're being prayed for." Her eyes welled up with tears and she said a quick "Goodbye", giving us the card of her agent so we could call him the following day if we decided to make an offer.
Well, we made an offer and the house never hit the market. No one knew it was available which means no one could outbid us or beat us to it. Our offer was accepted and we close in just under 2 weeks.
My friends, I truly, truly believe that this opportunity could only have been orchestrated by God Himself. Who else could set up so many "by chance" happenings and bring us such a beautiful outcome?
Do you listen to those "nudges", those "gut instincts"? Simple obedience could make all the difference.
Oh, I could go on and on about this house but we've plenty of time for that as I'll be sharing about our projects as we go along. I'll let you know the key items that I love about it, though. *It's a Victorian home. *It has a very large backyard {with plenty of room for a garden!}. *There's an old barn in the backyard. I LOVE IT!
We had all but given up on finding a house for ourselves. If you've been around the blog for a beat, you may have read about the many times we were told "NO" on the homes we were trying to get into. The market in our area is nuts and the best homes go the fastest. Our only strategy was to get out of the rat race, focus on homeschooling the kiddos, and pick up the search again come the winter {hoping that the competition that time of year would be less}.
Early in August, the hubster had to spend a week in New Orleans working for a client. There was no way I was going to spend a week alone with the 3 kiddos cooped up in our condo, so we went to stay with my in-laws. The Monday before Mike was to return, his mom told me to take the day and go do something alone and leave the kiddos with her and my father-in-law.
I thought about what I should do. Where should I go?
Then a tug in my heart made me want to go "home"...back to the city I grew up in and also spent a lot of time with the hubster in when we were dating. Luckily, "home" was only a 15 minute drive south from where I was staying, so I headed off. As I was driving, though, I asked God to guide me that day...as I always do...I asked him to help me not miss opportunities to share His goodness with people as I go about my day.
My first stop was the Habitat for Humanity ReStore where I found a chair I fell in love with. It had old-time charm to it but needed to be recovered {still does}. I called my mom and asked her if she thought it was do-able and she let me know she was home so I could just stop by with it after I bought it. Oh, and by the way, "There are wicker chairs on the curb across the street but I don't want to go get them until the people there are gone". She told me.
I bought the chair and headed for my parent's house and spotted the wicker chairs...and the people...across the street and something told me to just go ask for them.
I pulled up to the corner, asking the woman there if she would mind. That one question led to her deciding to share her present-tense life with me. Her sister owned that house and she just passed away 2 weeks prior to our conversation. She let me know she would be selling the house and had to get rid of everything inside of it. She also let me know how upset and stressed out she was, now caring for her 16 year old niece who has special needs. But before I left that chat, I asked her if it were OK that I pray for her. Her face became so relieved. She sighed a great big sigh. "Yes! PLEASE pray for me. I've really got my work cut out for me here."
I had her name and phone number written on a napkin. She told me to call her in a couple weeks if I were interested in buying the house. She was going to have someone give her an estimate of value and contact an agent to sell it.
Well, some time went by and the hubster and I agreed we could at least find out what she was going to ask for it. And I kept meaning to call her, I just kept getting sidetracked for whatever reason. Finally, a day and time came when the kiddos were calm and content and I felt a strong urge to call her right then. I called and she told me I had great timing. She had an asking price and an agent ready to list the house for sale. She also said she would show us the house that night.
We looked at the house and were blown away. For me, I remembered spending time there and in that yard as a little girl. But looking at the home as a mom of three little ones, I saw SO much potential for the space and knew our family could be quite comfortable there. After our walk through, we had a chat with the woman about our intentions. "If you're interested, the agent won't even list the house." We were told. And that didn't really hit me right away because I wanted to make sure she knew I had been praying for her every day like I told her I would.
I squeezed her hand and told her she was in my prayers from the day I met her. At first she tried to joke and laugh it off. I looked her in the eye and said "I mean it. I want you to know you're being prayed for." Her eyes welled up with tears and she said a quick "Goodbye", giving us the card of her agent so we could call him the following day if we decided to make an offer.
Well, we made an offer and the house never hit the market. No one knew it was available which means no one could outbid us or beat us to it. Our offer was accepted and we close in just under 2 weeks.
My friends, I truly, truly believe that this opportunity could only have been orchestrated by God Himself. Who else could set up so many "by chance" happenings and bring us such a beautiful outcome?
Do you listen to those "nudges", those "gut instincts"? Simple obedience could make all the difference.
Oh, I could go on and on about this house but we've plenty of time for that as I'll be sharing about our projects as we go along. I'll let you know the key items that I love about it, though. *It's a Victorian home. *It has a very large backyard {with plenty of room for a garden!}. *There's an old barn in the backyard. I LOVE IT!
