God's Will Above Our Own - Even in House Hunting

When we first got married, we bought a fairly inexpensive fixer-upper in a little town rather far from “our life”. Our friends teased us about living in the next state because it took so long to get to our house. Even though it was a drive, the Lord blessed us while living there. We brought our first baby girl home, and it was in that house that the Lord worked on our hearts to homeschool our kids.

The Lord also blessed us financially with that home. We were able to split off and sell a lot next to our house, and we even made a profit from the sale of the house itself. Granted, we (both sets of our parents included) put A LOT of time, prayers, blood, sweat, and probably some tears into that piece of real estate, but it paid off.

 Our next house was closer to our church and my husband’s work. Once again, it was a fixer-upper with a lot we split off and sold. We were blessed in that house with two little boys and a firm decision to homeschool our children once they were of school age. We sold the lot first and then put our newly-remodeled house up for sale a little over two years after we moved in. We sold the house for about the same as we had paid for it, but the lot sale helped us financially.

After selling that house, we frantically looked for another house to buy. I had prayed to the Lord for a certain type of house. I wanted a larger house with land to split and sell, three or four bedrooms, and a fenced in backyard. At this point we already had three kids, but I knew that we were open to having more if the Lord blessed us with them.

I had found a home in the country not far from where we lived that seemed perfect. It had a little red chicken coop in the large backyard. It wasn’t a huge house, but it wasn’t in need of huge repairs and it had three large bedrooms, a nice sized dining room for all the dinners I liked to host, spaces to homeschool, and a wood burning stove (which is still my husband’s dream). I prayed and prayed that we’d be able to move there. I probably drove by that house fifty times (and it wasn’t on my way to anywhere I was going). However, God had other plans because the people selling that house never took our offers.

While I was solely focused on one house, Nate was doing his own research and had found a home in the town where he worked. This house was structurally sound, but it was another fixer-upper. It was also not much bigger than the house we had just sold. It was a three bedroom ranch (without a finished basement) on ten acres, but the acreage was mostly wooded and infested with mosquitoes.

He was pumped. I was less than pumped.

The first time I walked into our current house, I almost cried...

To read the rest, head on over to Heart of the Matter where I continue.

(All pictures posted are from our current house)