I alluded to the providential circumstances of our new house, and wanted to elaborate on the details. In a previous posting, I mentioned that we met a couple at our church who were in town for a preliminary house hunting trip as they would be relocating to Northern Virginia. We had them over for lunch, told them about the area and they in turn told us about where they live in Indiana and about homeschooling and churches in that area. It was an encouraging visit for both families and it left me wondering if there was some greater purpose, especially when they decided not to move to Virginia after all. We felt like God was tugging us toward the small town where they live and perhaps even to their church, but there weren't any houses in that area which were suitable or affordable, so we continued to pray, but pursued housing elsewhere.
The first day of my house hunting trip, I searched on the Northside of Indianapolis with one realtor, we visited about 25 houses. The second day, I searched the Southside with a different realtor. There were some fun options, an old Victorian house and an 1890s farm house to mention a couple, but nothing was exactly what we were looking for. The best house I found did not have a basement and I had been pretty fixated on having a basement, but I was also continuously praying that whatever purpose God had for this house, He would equip it to serve that purpose, and maybe we didn't need a basement to fulfill His purpose for the house, so I was willing to forgo the basement. As we prayed and wrangled through the options at the end of the second day, deliberating about increasing our price range and trying to determine whether I should keep searching, or settle on the best house we'd found, dh got an e-mail from the couple we'd met in VA stating simply, "we saw Angel was in town house hunting and we think we can help." As it turns out, another couple at their church wanted to sell and had found another house to buy, but hadn't listed the house, so we wouldn't have found it. So, of course, we had to pursue this new option!
After playing a bit of phone tag, I raced out to see the house and it was grand! The entire drive home, I kept praying, "Lord, are you really going to give us this house?" After my two days and forty houses, I knew what we could afford, and this house with the property was more than anything I'd looked at, so I was trying to be trusting but still skeptical, not wanting to get my hopes up and be disappointed, so my prayer became, "Lord, I would love to have this house, but I would be content with the other house or any house, just lead us where you want us to be and work out all the details." Well, He did. We're buying the house for sale by owner and reaping the benefits with a lower price. We did have to increase our price range a bit, but not too much and we're going to walk in with instant equity. The couple we're buying the house from is a fabulous Christian homeschooling family with 4 kids as well. They're not moving far and so we're looking forward to becoming friends with them. After we went back, so that Chris could see the house and meet the couple, we stood in a circle and prayed together before we left. That's the best way to do business, seal it with a prayer!
Since then, Chris has met with them twice and has had a great time getting to know them. He's also been to the Bible Study/Small Group that both couples are a part of and raved about what a fabulous group of Christians they are, all desiring to be in the center of God's will. So, obviously, we are overwhelmed by God's grace and excited to know that we are in the center of His will and that He is working out the details, we just have to wait on Him. I am very excited to get out there and be a part of what God is doing there and see what purpose He has in store for us and for His house!
God is so good, He's so good to me! |
