.... and now it is someone else's ...
On June 8, 2003, we purchased our first home. On January 28, 2013, we sold it. We owned that cute little house for nearly 10 years. We lived in it for 3½.
This was, obviously, not the plan. And the resulting story was a true test of patience and faithfulness. Nate and I are both firm believers that the Lord always provides and that He will not lead you into any storm that He does not plan to lead you out of. However, it is a whole lot easier to preach that lesson than it is to live it!
In September 2006, we felt a very strong calling that it was time to move back home. What started as a far-fetched dream (a dream because, really, how do you sell a house - find a new one - quit two jobs - and find two new ones 200 miles apart) turned into a reality quicker than we could have ever expected. With a couple of phone calls Nate had a job. An off-handed comment to a friend resulted in a meeting with a couple that wanted to rent and soon buy our home. One more phone call and we had a very inexpensive place to live for a few months. By November 2006 we were settled in to our new home and so grateful for all of God's provisions!
Fast forward 3 years... we have purchased a new home, we are raising 2 beautiful babies, and we have just evicted those 'fabulous' renters. I am working part-time, we now have 2 mortgages to pay, and the house that we aren't living in needs thousands of dollars of repairs before we can even entertain the idea of selling it. (for those of you who aren't following closely, this is where the faith really comes in to play!)
We did the work as we could... as we had the time to travel and the money to do repairs. Once the house reached the point that we considered it 'liveable' again, we were able to help some friends that needed a place to live while they helped us put some finishing touches on the home. We tried to sell it by owner with no success. So, we bit the bullet and listed with a realtor - prepared to take a bit of a loss.
The sign went up on October 1, 2012. There was one showing the first week it was on the market. Then nothing. And nothing. And nothing.
These months were filled with prayers. And pleas. I felt like I was leading with the faith I needed, but it was waning. Baby girl #3 was coming in December and we just couldn't afford this house AND a maternity leave. When that worry started to enter my mind, that's when my faith started to flicker. Suddenly, I went from putting all my trust in my Lord to trying to control it all. During this time. there was one song that really spoke to what I was struggling with. "Only a Mountain" by Jason Castro. So, this became my mantra.... "This is only a mountain. You don't have to find your way around it. Tell it to move, it will move. Tell it to fall, it will fall! This is only a moment, you don't have to let your fear control it. Tell it to move it will move. Tell it to fall, it will fall. Ask like you believe it,
Trust like you can see it. Take your fear and say there's nothing in your way...."
That house was my mountain... so every day, I commanded it to 'move'... to the best of my human ability, I believed that if I asked with as much faith as I could muster, it would certainly move. But I also knew God had his own plan. So at the same time I was telling that mountain to move, I was also praying for the person/family that would someday live in my home. The house isn't perfect, and I knew it was going to take a very specific person to be able to call that house, home.
On January 10, 2013, our realtor called just to check in. She informed me that there still had been no activity on the house since that first week. We were told, at this point, not to expect anything to happen before spring. We talked about lowering the price but decided to wait until March before trying that. And that was it.... the phone call was ended with the understanding that we would speak again in a couple months.
So, when my phone rang 5 days later, I answered with hesitancy. And the first words out of the realtor's mouth were, "Kari, don't get excited yet. But we have an offer."
The next 13 days were filled with phone calls and text messages and emails and faxes and lots and lots of emotions. We waited 6 long years for someone to be interested in our home. And then, on one day, this woman that I had been praying for looked at my house, made me an offer, looked at it again, and made a better offer. And she wanted it as soon as possible!
At the closing table, I met the woman that would make my house her home. And for the first time in 2 weeks, I felt at absolute peace.
This is not the way I would have chose to sell that house. I had my own plan... and it was no where close to the way it ended up playing out. But my plan did not include a lesson in faith and trusting that the Lord can get us through ANYTHING. And that lesson will take me further in life than my time and money will ever take me. And, for that, I am eternally grateful!
