Proverbs 6:9 "The mind of man plans his way,

but the Lord directs his steps."

 The next series of miracles, and I continually wonder,  "Why does He love us so much?"  There is certainly nothing inherently love-able within my heart aside from Him.  And, the mystery, not only does He love, but He seems to delight in giving to His children. 

 The development of the Hearthstone Farm dream...

In our excitement that the property was once again available, we overlooked an insurmountable obstacle: financing.   The property has a mobile home on it, where we had intended to live while we build our someday-home ... the hope being to built it as close to debt free as possible.  However, our lender (a personal friend) explained that it was very difficult (for us, impossible) to finance a mobile home, and the only possibility would be to wrap the construction cost into the cost of the property ... completely defeating the "debt-free" concept!   

We were stunned.  Had the Lord brought us to this property (again) to tell us no now?

There is a couple, David & Janet, whom the Lord has used to disciple Matthew and me for over 10 years.  David has taught again and again the concept of having an open hand before the Lord.  "If the Lord gives you something, and you hold tightly to it, when He says, 'Let go,' and you continue to hold on to it, He will begin 'break' [so to speak] one finger at a time until you let go.  However, if you have your hands always open to Him, He can give freely and take freely.  When your eyes are on Him, it is much easier to keep the open hand."

And so, with open hands, we prayed, trying not to be discouraged.  We called the owners, and tossed out the idea of an owner carry...something that had been mentioned (and rejected) once before.  They invited us to their home, where we sat around their dining room table.

We handed them the numbers we had worked out...the downpayment, interest rate, etc., etc.   They glanced at the numbers we had written out, smiled and set it aside.  "That's fine.  How have you kids been today - did you go out to the farm this afternoon?" ...and then they showed us pictures of their grandchildren, talked of raising goats, and so we chatted for about an hour.

At the end of that time, I...almost sheepishly [pardon the farm pun]...referred back to the numbers.  "Then...this will work for you?"   "Sure, dear," came the reply.

 My husband and I sat in what must have been some level of disbelief, because as we walked out to the truck, I asked him,  "Matthew, did we just buy the farm?!"  He smiled, nodded and said,  "I think so!"  :)

Why is He so good to us!?   He has given Himself, and moved Heaven and earth to do so.   And yet, He cares about a handful of His people, wanting to live on His green hills.   Amazing.

And here, the end of the week, we have a signed contract, and four extremely elated children!!  So now, the last step is to sell our existing home....well, for the Lord to put thru the sale, that is.  We are industrously cleaning, decluttering and packing to ready the house for the market. Which leads me to mention a wonderful opportunity called ATIC - All Things in Common - taken from the Acts passage regarding the early Church coming together to meet each others' needs.   Several families will gather this Monday to bring what they would like to share, and be able to take what they may need - what a concept!  This is through the wonderful Sevier Cty Homeschooling group (which we are just beginning to become acquainted with).  Our family is SO excited to participate this Monday - instead of the children thinking, "Wow, I can sell this at a garage sale for $1," [not that there's ANYthing wrong with garage sales, of course!!], I heard one of them say, "I can share this with someone at ATIC!"  That's the Lord working in their little hearts! Look at His love!!

Proverbs 19:21, "Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand."    Blessings to you as you seek His counsel.

Open handedly,    -kim