Goodbye to a Great Year
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty work within us, to accomplish more than we might ask or think." Ephesians 3:20
"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your hearts desires...Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes." Psalm 37: 4 & 7
What a truly amazing year 2016 was for us but that didn't come without years of struggle, praying and waiting. As 2016 began my husband came to me and told me He felt that this was going to be the year we finally sold our house and moved. See, we had tried to sell our small starter home twice before, coming so close the second time just to have it fall through at the last moment. When he told me he felt God telling him this, I was skeptical to be honest. I didn't want to once again get my hopes up just to be let down. I couldn't see how it was going to be any different of a year for us than the past 8 that we had prayed and waited. We began praying in 2008 that God would allow us to move out of our small starter home that was in a subdivision with rising dues and astronomical water bill. Our dream was to have some land and a home big enough to fit our family of 5. A home and property where we could host dinners and Bible studies and youth gatherings. It didn't need to be extravagant. God knew our hearts desire and yet year after year we saw that dream put on hold for one reason or another. We saw most of our friends and family be able to sell their homes and move without the hindrances we were facing and honestly I struggled with this. I couldn't understand why God would keep us where we were and let others get exactly what we were praying for, some only moving out of want and not necessity. I'm being real here! We all have times where God says "wait" or "no" to something we have asked of Him and we see others get that very thing. It's hard to trust that God has good planned for us when we hear "no" or "wait" for years on end. This included my husbands career. He is one of the hardest workers I know and yet he couldn't progress in his career. Every seemingly open door was slammed shut and we were left wondering why and if God had any plans to change things in our lives. So when my husband came to me and told me this about 2016 being the year things would change I was very skeptical and didn't let myself hope that what he said was true. It's good that my husband had the faith that He had truly heard from God or else I don't think we would be where we are now because I wouldn't have stepped out in faith and obedience. Long story short, we prepared our house to sell for the third time. I remember the day we listed I felt ill. I didn't want to go through this again, the cleaning, the hoping for showings, the subsequent hoping for an offer and then hoping that the buyer wouldn't back out like last time. Skip ahead 30 days after listing and we had a contract on our house. That still didn't mean anything to me as we had gone down this road before and the buyers backed out halfway to closing. We went through all the steps one goes through when there is a contract on their home. Each hurdle we made it through was one less burden on me but there was one big hurdle we were facing that I hadn't been prepared for...we couldn't find a suitable home in our price range to move into! We looked at 16 homes during that time and as closing approached and the sell of our starter home really was happening, I felt panicked and sick because I had no idea where we were going. I even asked our realtor (who also happens to be one of my best friends) if we could back out of the contract because I didn't want to be homeless! Fear is a terrible thing! Fear makes a person do crazy irrational things. Fear is never from God and always from the Devil. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love and self discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7 Thankfully God protected us from my fears and we were unable to get out of the contract! In the end we discovered we were able to have a brand new home built on over 3 acres of land in a neighborhood we had fallen in love with 7 years ago. We never dreamed we would be able to afford a new home or that we would be able to live in this neighborhood but God had let it all work out. I believe part of the reason he made us wait to move was because he had to make some things happen in both our finances and in that neighborhood before we could move where He wanted us to be. That had been an HOA with dues and rules and the homes had to be built a certain way in order to live there. All three of those things were things we were trying to get away from. In those 7 years the HOA was dissolved as were all the rules and dues. God also knew we needed time without a mortgage in order to pay off some debts. My generous and gracious parents allowed us to stay with them for the duration of the building of our house. A week after closing on the sell of our starter home and moving in with my parents my husband was surprised to have a local software company come after him for a job! He had pursued many different jobs during the past year and none of them panned out. Now when he wasn't looking God sent him just the one He had planned for him to have. Now he has been there for 5 months and knows God has him there for more than career advancement but as his mission field to share God's love with his coworkers. And as we enter 2017 we are about to close on our home and move into it! God is good, even when he makes us wait for a period of time. God is good, even when things don't work like we thought they would. God's ways are always best and learning to fully trust this and Him are some important truths God has taught me this year. He did more than we could have hoped and if we had had our way the first time we tried to move things wouldn't be a good and right as they are now since it's God's timing. If Jon had gotten one of those other jobs he had interviewed for, He wouldn't be where God wants him and would be missing out on some of God's purposes for his life, which is why we are all created to start with...to live out God's purposes for us. I am excited to see what God has planned for us this year and pray that we all grow in our relationship with Him and find our identity and purpose in Christ. Happy 2017!
"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your hearts desires...Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes." Psalm 37: 4 & 7
What a truly amazing year 2016 was for us but that didn't come without years of struggle, praying and waiting. As 2016 began my husband came to me and told me He felt that this was going to be the year we finally sold our house and moved. See, we had tried to sell our small starter home twice before, coming so close the second time just to have it fall through at the last moment. When he told me he felt God telling him this, I was skeptical to be honest. I didn't want to once again get my hopes up just to be let down. I couldn't see how it was going to be any different of a year for us than the past 8 that we had prayed and waited. We began praying in 2008 that God would allow us to move out of our small starter home that was in a subdivision with rising dues and astronomical water bill. Our dream was to have some land and a home big enough to fit our family of 5. A home and property where we could host dinners and Bible studies and youth gatherings. It didn't need to be extravagant. God knew our hearts desire and yet year after year we saw that dream put on hold for one reason or another. We saw most of our friends and family be able to sell their homes and move without the hindrances we were facing and honestly I struggled with this. I couldn't understand why God would keep us where we were and let others get exactly what we were praying for, some only moving out of want and not necessity. I'm being real here! We all have times where God says "wait" or "no" to something we have asked of Him and we see others get that very thing. It's hard to trust that God has good planned for us when we hear "no" or "wait" for years on end. This included my husbands career. He is one of the hardest workers I know and yet he couldn't progress in his career. Every seemingly open door was slammed shut and we were left wondering why and if God had any plans to change things in our lives. So when my husband came to me and told me this about 2016 being the year things would change I was very skeptical and didn't let myself hope that what he said was true. It's good that my husband had the faith that He had truly heard from God or else I don't think we would be where we are now because I wouldn't have stepped out in faith and obedience. Long story short, we prepared our house to sell for the third time. I remember the day we listed I felt ill. I didn't want to go through this again, the cleaning, the hoping for showings, the subsequent hoping for an offer and then hoping that the buyer wouldn't back out like last time. Skip ahead 30 days after listing and we had a contract on our house. That still didn't mean anything to me as we had gone down this road before and the buyers backed out halfway to closing. We went through all the steps one goes through when there is a contract on their home. Each hurdle we made it through was one less burden on me but there was one big hurdle we were facing that I hadn't been prepared for...we couldn't find a suitable home in our price range to move into! We looked at 16 homes during that time and as closing approached and the sell of our starter home really was happening, I felt panicked and sick because I had no idea where we were going. I even asked our realtor (who also happens to be one of my best friends) if we could back out of the contract because I didn't want to be homeless! Fear is a terrible thing! Fear makes a person do crazy irrational things. Fear is never from God and always from the Devil. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love and self discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7 Thankfully God protected us from my fears and we were unable to get out of the contract! In the end we discovered we were able to have a brand new home built on over 3 acres of land in a neighborhood we had fallen in love with 7 years ago. We never dreamed we would be able to afford a new home or that we would be able to live in this neighborhood but God had let it all work out. I believe part of the reason he made us wait to move was because he had to make some things happen in both our finances and in that neighborhood before we could move where He wanted us to be. That had been an HOA with dues and rules and the homes had to be built a certain way in order to live there. All three of those things were things we were trying to get away from. In those 7 years the HOA was dissolved as were all the rules and dues. God also knew we needed time without a mortgage in order to pay off some debts. My generous and gracious parents allowed us to stay with them for the duration of the building of our house. A week after closing on the sell of our starter home and moving in with my parents my husband was surprised to have a local software company come after him for a job! He had pursued many different jobs during the past year and none of them panned out. Now when he wasn't looking God sent him just the one He had planned for him to have. Now he has been there for 5 months and knows God has him there for more than career advancement but as his mission field to share God's love with his coworkers. And as we enter 2017 we are about to close on our home and move into it! God is good, even when he makes us wait for a period of time. God is good, even when things don't work like we thought they would. God's ways are always best and learning to fully trust this and Him are some important truths God has taught me this year. He did more than we could have hoped and if we had had our way the first time we tried to move things wouldn't be a good and right as they are now since it's God's timing. If Jon had gotten one of those other jobs he had interviewed for, He wouldn't be where God wants him and would be missing out on some of God's purposes for his life, which is why we are all created to start with...to live out God's purposes for us. I am excited to see what God has planned for us this year and pray that we all grow in our relationship with Him and find our identity and purpose in Christ. Happy 2017!
Comments
Post a Comment