God is so incredibly good to us. I'm not sure if I mentioned on the blog here (or if it was during my sabatical LOL) - First of all, the long story of how God brought us here and provided miraculously all along the way:
Back up to 2006 - May - we found out about an opportunity to rent a house in the country. We'd been thinking about getting out of town for a while and the rent was actually less than our mortgage payment. We believed it was God's direction and decided to move to the rented house and put our house in town on the market. We had most of our tax return from that year still in the bank so thought we had a couple of months cushion and could surely sell our house by then. God did use that house for His glory and He provided, often in miraculous ways, but it took a lot longer to sell it than we were expecting.July 11th 2008, we FINALLY sold the house we owned in town. We'd been trying for two years. Finally a couple came along that we felt God was saying were the ones to buy the house. It took 4 months and 4 failed closing dates, but it finally happened. Signed the papers and were so so glad to be done with that portion of our lives. We thought maybe we'd stay here in our rented house for a few years, try to get out of debt, and then look for a country house of our own.However, a few days before that closing date, our landlord's son started asking dh questions about our long term plans. We knew he was in the process of buying this house from his parents, but figured it would be a while before he wanted it. It turned out he was planning to court a certain special young lady. So, suddenly we had a different mindset. Maybe we wouldn't be staying here a few more years. At least we were open to the possibility. As we sat in the realtor's office, waiting for the buyers to sign their 200 some pages we looked through the big book of properties sitting there. We were surprised to find 5 or 6 properties with land in a reasonable price range. We almost passed this one by. The description said "as is" and I figured dh wouldn't be interested. Then the realtor came in and said, "did you see this one?". She started telling us about this house and we were intrigued. 5 bedrooms, 1 bath, almost 13 acres, bank owned, needing some work - especially plumbing, but only 111K. Dh and I decided to drive by it that weekend. We found it unlocked and decided to check it out. (we did tell our realtor about it after the weekend and she was ok with it and glad that we were the ones that found it and locked up for them) We fell in love. It was an old farmhouse. You walk in and it feels like you're stepping 100 years back in time. We could totally see our family living there. In the week or so following, dh drove by each of the other properties we'd noticed in the book, and each was rejected for one reason or another.Still, we were not at all sure it was the right thing to do. We weren't sure if there were many hidden things that needed more work than we could afford, we weren't sure if there was any chance of getting a mortgage with our current debts, and the landlord's son was turned down by his lady friend (poor guy). So we were holding it very very loosely and praying for God's clear direction. My uncle is a carpenter and general contractor and does house inspections. We contacted him and he agreed to come for a visit and look at the house with us. We specifically prayed that if it was God's will, that we would get a good report both from my uncle and from the man at the bank.Uncle Pete came and we had a wonderful visit. He walked through the house with us and pointed out the things that needed to be done. We were pleased to find no big surprises. As we walked around the property before leaving he said, "This is the perfect house for your family." Then even better, on the way home he offered to barter his help on the house in exchange for our boys' help with some of his projects. (talk about getting the best of both ends of that deal!!). Monday, dh talked to the guy at the bank and got a clear go ahead from him too! Not only that, but the realtor let us know that they'd dropped the price to 102K.We decided to put in an offer on the house. :) We talked with our realtor and decided to offer them 96K and ask them to fix the plumbing and test the well and septic. We didn't expect them to accept it, but figured it was worth a try. Dh said if they accepted it, it would certainly be God. They accepted with a minor difference - they would credit the cost of the plumbing repairs and tests rather than actually doing them. Yup, it was God. LOL So we had to go and sign their counter offer. It was a busy week for dh and we couldn't get in til Friday. The realtor called to let us know we needed to be sure we did it Friday as there was another couple scheduled to look at the house over the weekend. They were preapproved and something told her they would be making an offer. So we managed to get there Friday afternoon and sign the counter offer. Even then we knew it could fall through as that counter offer had to be signed by the sellers before it was binding. It could take up to 3 days for them to sign according to the paperwork, and if something better showed up before then, they could take it. We left it in God's hands. Monday came and no signature yet. The other couple hadn't placed an offer but were planning on it. Tuesday the other couple decided against putting in an offer. Wednesday the signed counter offer came back from the seller. The plumbing got fixed. The well and septic tested good. The seller asked to move the closing date up a week and we accepted. And here we are! Every door, God opened wide. Every step of the way, He was behind us saying "this is the way, walk ye in it." Over the next few weeks we would be sweeping, scrubbing, painting, and then MOVING!!
Back up to 2006 - May - we found out about an opportunity to rent a house in the country. We'd been thinking about getting out of town for a while and the rent was actually less than our mortgage payment. We believed it was God's direction and decided to move to the rented house and put our house in town on the market. We had most of our tax return from that year still in the bank so thought we had a couple of months cushion and could surely sell our house by then. God did use that house for His glory and He provided, often in miraculous ways, but it took a lot longer to sell it than we were expecting.July 11th 2008, we FINALLY sold the house we owned in town. We'd been trying for two years. Finally a couple came along that we felt God was saying were the ones to buy the house. It took 4 months and 4 failed closing dates, but it finally happened. Signed the papers and were so so glad to be done with that portion of our lives. We thought maybe we'd stay here in our rented house for a few years, try to get out of debt, and then look for a country house of our own.However, a few days before that closing date, our landlord's son started asking dh questions about our long term plans. We knew he was in the process of buying this house from his parents, but figured it would be a while before he wanted it. It turned out he was planning to court a certain special young lady. So, suddenly we had a different mindset. Maybe we wouldn't be staying here a few more years. At least we were open to the possibility. As we sat in the realtor's office, waiting for the buyers to sign their 200 some pages we looked through the big book of properties sitting there. We were surprised to find 5 or 6 properties with land in a reasonable price range. We almost passed this one by. The description said "as is" and I figured dh wouldn't be interested. Then the realtor came in and said, "did you see this one?". She started telling us about this house and we were intrigued. 5 bedrooms, 1 bath, almost 13 acres, bank owned, needing some work - especially plumbing, but only 111K. Dh and I decided to drive by it that weekend. We found it unlocked and decided to check it out. (we did tell our realtor about it after the weekend and she was ok with it and glad that we were the ones that found it and locked up for them) We fell in love. It was an old farmhouse. You walk in and it feels like you're stepping 100 years back in time. We could totally see our family living there. In the week or so following, dh drove by each of the other properties we'd noticed in the book, and each was rejected for one reason or another.Still, we were not at all sure it was the right thing to do. We weren't sure if there were many hidden things that needed more work than we could afford, we weren't sure if there was any chance of getting a mortgage with our current debts, and the landlord's son was turned down by his lady friend (poor guy). So we were holding it very very loosely and praying for God's clear direction. My uncle is a carpenter and general contractor and does house inspections. We contacted him and he agreed to come for a visit and look at the house with us. We specifically prayed that if it was God's will, that we would get a good report both from my uncle and from the man at the bank.Uncle Pete came and we had a wonderful visit. He walked through the house with us and pointed out the things that needed to be done. We were pleased to find no big surprises. As we walked around the property before leaving he said, "This is the perfect house for your family." Then even better, on the way home he offered to barter his help on the house in exchange for our boys' help with some of his projects. (talk about getting the best of both ends of that deal!!). Monday, dh talked to the guy at the bank and got a clear go ahead from him too! Not only that, but the realtor let us know that they'd dropped the price to 102K.We decided to put in an offer on the house. :) We talked with our realtor and decided to offer them 96K and ask them to fix the plumbing and test the well and septic. We didn't expect them to accept it, but figured it was worth a try. Dh said if they accepted it, it would certainly be God. They accepted with a minor difference - they would credit the cost of the plumbing repairs and tests rather than actually doing them. Yup, it was God. LOL So we had to go and sign their counter offer. It was a busy week for dh and we couldn't get in til Friday. The realtor called to let us know we needed to be sure we did it Friday as there was another couple scheduled to look at the house over the weekend. They were preapproved and something told her they would be making an offer. So we managed to get there Friday afternoon and sign the counter offer. Even then we knew it could fall through as that counter offer had to be signed by the sellers before it was binding. It could take up to 3 days for them to sign according to the paperwork, and if something better showed up before then, they could take it. We left it in God's hands. Monday came and no signature yet. The other couple hadn't placed an offer but were planning on it. Tuesday the other couple decided against putting in an offer. Wednesday the signed counter offer came back from the seller. The plumbing got fixed. The well and septic tested good. The seller asked to move the closing date up a week and we accepted. And here we are! Every door, God opened wide. Every step of the way, He was behind us saying "this is the way, walk ye in it." Over the next few weeks we would be sweeping, scrubbing, painting, and then MOVING!!
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteGod was certainly looking after you in this. How great is our God.
blessings Gail