We were called to leave. And, we were also called to another specific place, not just anywhere but here. When you see God's leading so clearly, as we did, there is no second guessing, no wondering if this is the right choice or right place. It easy to move forward and not look back when you know the Lord is not just walking with you, but directing your steps.
This is my absolute favorite part of the story! You just won't even believe the rest. If you were present during this part, give a shout out, so people know I'm not making it up. It's that unbelievable.
Over the course of 2 months, it became very clear that God was leading us to Spring, Texas. I will spend more on how we knew that later, it is it's own miracle, too. I want to get you caught up to where we are today! Even though we had such certainty and clarity about making all the decisions to leave, each one still stung just a bit. Putting our house on the market was no different.
The last year had been so chaotic and consuming that most of the detailing, decorating and organizing I wanted to do had been put on hold and was now doing, to get our house ready to sell. My mom, dad and I, or Andy and I, really tried to enjoy the days we spent getting things off our honey-do list, decluttering and perfecting things. It really was a precious time together. I bet I planted $300 dollars worth of mums. I told a friend I was a rage gardener, some run.....I mum. I didn't have to do it and I knew I couldn't take them with me, but it gave me joy during a difficult time and I smiled every time I drove up to our house, even with a "For Sale" sign in the yard.
We almost never do business with people in our ministry area or church, period. We also knew this may be a difficult market and house, with it being so personalized. It could have been a potentially precarious situation for everyone. But we really felt like the Lord, was leading us to use some of our close friends/church members to list our house. Even though, it was as emotionally difficult for them to sell our house, as it was for us to leave it. There is something to be said about realtors who pray over your home, who use not just common sense but discernment, to help you make decisions. Thank you, Gary and Trudi Owen.
There is a price you can sell your home at in May, and a price you can sell at in November. There is a price you can sell at if you have nothing but time, there is a price for selling your house quickly. In that regard, we had nothing going for us. There were at least 6 houses around us that had been sitting there for months and even though we were probably going to lose money anyway, we couldn't afford to low ball ourselves. Andy and I prayed about it, the Owen's prayed about it, and we felt that if God was in this, He would show us favor and we priced our home at the very top of what was still fair. And, on the market it went.
I remember sitting in a driveway across the street when the realtors toured our home and just bawling. It was a tough thing, to see people with no attachment or affection for what you were going through, parade through and objectively, professionally, assess your homes value. It was priceless to us. After one of the showings, I came back home and parked in front. A precious friend had texted me a bible verse earlier in the week and I hadn't had time to read it yet, but I was sitting in the car praying and could come up with nothing of comfort for myself. So, I got out my phone to look up the verse.
As I sat in my car, in front of the house, with the sign and the mums, I read this: "Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it SPRINGS up; do you not see it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19 Thank you, Jesus. Thanks, friend.
We put our house on the market and then left to make our first trip to Spring. We showed it 8 times in 5 days and the first day of our trip to Houston, we had an offer......for asking price. When all was said and done, our house sold in less than a week for $2500 over asking price and we closed one month later, taking away just over $5,000.
FINDING THE NEXT HOUSE.......
We knew we were going to Spring, maybe even before they knew if they wanted us. We knew the first day we visited, and the first time we met the pastor and staff, that this is where God was calling us. We began looking at houses on the internet, as our generation does, and it seemed like we could get a ton of house for the money. We saw 3500 square foot dream homes in the $150k range. It seemed like shooting fish in a barrel, just take your pick of one of a hundred great houses.
But, when we got there and were in a position to feel comfortable looking, the list of possible choices grew smaller and smaller. To be in the right school district, close to the church, in our range and good for young families......that narrowed it way down. On our second trip, we went with a realtor to see some of the houses we thought were so great, as it turned out, they were not near as great, in person. With every house she showed us, we got further and further from church. There is a lot we were willing to give up, but being as close as possible to church, was not one of them. When Andy asked about wanting to see things closer, the realtor jokingly responded "Suck it Up! This is Houston." I know she was kidding, but it wasn't funny to us, and so we found ourselves, for the second time, breaking our rule about church members. We knew we were supposed to change realtor's and we knew we were supposed to change to one recommended by someone at the church. We were so discouraged after our first outing. The houses weren't just cosmetically bad, they had things you couldn't overcome, like being on busy streets, or bad schools, in neighborhoods with only older retired couples (not a bad thing, just hard to walk to a buddies house for the kids.) The morning before we met with the new realtor, we prayed that God would help us find our home. We had already seen God take care of every possible detail we could have imagined, and we knew He had a home for us....just show it to us Lord! Andy prayed specifically, that Amy (our divinely appointed realtor) would show us something new, something we hadn't seen before, on any websites or listings.
After the first 3 or 4 houses, we were discouraged all over again, as the reality set in. We were never going to be in a house like we had. With each one we saw, Andy would point out what he would miss most about our last house. Which for him, was mostly tall ceilings! We had to pull ourselves together, we had to get over it and accept that we shouldn't make comparisons at all. I sat in the backseat with my sunglasses on, trying to hide the fact that I was crying. I was praying "Lord, we don't care where or what it looks like, just lead us to the house you want us to be in and we will buy it, no questions asked."
Amy knew we were disappointed and as we headed back to the church, she suggested we make one last stop. "I know you're not interested in new construction after what you've been through, but this is close to the church and there are some houses this builder has in inventory, that are finished but not sold." At that point, we would have looked anywhere. We drove into nice neighborhood, that looked active and cheerful. The first inventory house we looked at was so much better than what we had seen before, but still not quite right. But, at least it was encouraging! We looked at a few more, talked to a sales rep.......he showed us a floor plan for one he thought might work, and it did, but they didn't have any available. As we all stood in one of the houses, and he looked over his papers, he began telling us that the floor plan we wanted was actually scheduled for a build and that it was available....but we would need to pick out everything.......not a problem!
Friends, we are building, or have already built, I should say, our second brand new home!!!! We couldn't believe it, when Andy and I realized what the Lord was doing we just laughed and giggled. Seriously, Lord?!?! You would do this?!?! And, Yes He would!!! This was the most practical house budget wise, was 5 minutes from the church and closer than anything we had looked at before, this was in an amazing school district, with a brand new elementary school in walking distance, there were neighborhood pools and parks, soccer fields, walking trails, everything......and yes, very tall ceilings.
When we started to do the paperwork, God continued to outdo Himself. Our house was the first sale of November, so that's $10,000 off. It is the last home of this subdivision, so that's $5,000 off. It was already supposed to have upgraded stone on the front, do you mind having that?!.....Um, no! This one also must have a covered back patio, you can't change it. Is that OK? It's supposed to have upgraded appliances, no cost to you, is that OK? YES!!!!!! Friends, we are basically building our last, beloved house......only bigger. We sent their design center our link to the MLS for our old "new" house and they basically recreated it for the "new, new" house!!!!!!!! I can't put enough exclamation points!!!!
When went down for Andy's first Sunday, we went to see the house. The first thing I noticed was the garage doors. They were not the ones I picked. They were the upgraded ones....that are awesome! The other thing that "wasn't right" was all of the can lights in the living room, which I love but didn't pick to keep our cost down. Andy and I were OK with the "flaws," thrilled in fact, but knew the right thing to do was tell someone, after all we hadn't paid for them. When we mentioned it to our sales rep, he informed us that some new things had taken affect January 1st. They were supposed to be for only new houses in the next unit, but since ours was still in progress, they included it. The upgraded awesome garage doors, aren't an upgrade anymore, they are standard. When you do the covered patio, it now comes with the upgraded lighting package. He hoped we didn't mind.................
The babies and I are loaded up, and in just a few minutes will get on the road to Spring, When we get there, we will drive to our new home for the homeowners demonstration and close on it Friday morning. It was completed in exactly 2 months. We didn't get to do the house blessing or write scriptures on the wall, but I believe, in fact I know, that the Holy Spirit has been encamped over the lot where our home was being built....for at least two months, and probably longer. He has surely left His mark on it and blessed it from the foundation to the roof. It is beautiful, and has tremendous curb appeal.......the stone looks amazing, and the yard is already done, with a tree ( a big deal in Lubbock!) But, all I see when I look at our new home, the House My Father has prepared for us........is the cross.
We just knew our home, in Spartanburg, would never be matched. We knew, when faced with insurmountable debt and medical bills, we would never even be homeowners again. And we absolutely knew, that we had built our one and only dream home, only to never own it and leave it exactly one year later. We knew we would never find a house in Houston.............but, somehow in all that, we forgot that we KNOW Jesus. We KNOW the maker of heaven and earth, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Provider, Sustainer, Deliverer, Comforter and Friend.....the Real Joy Giver. And, He KNOWS us. And He KNOWS the plans HE has for us.
We took this picture of our family, late at night after we had spent the day being boxed up and cleaning the house, in preparation for closing, the next morning. Our last day in the house, with all the grandparents we were moving from, standing in front of us..........taking our picture. We smiled and said "cheese!" though we weren't necessarily happy, more tired and a little sad. Growing up, we moved a lot.Taking your picture with a sign declaring your next destination is a tradition on my side. As we stood in the empty house, trying to decide what to write, Andy and I knew what it should say. And, we needed our family, our friends and young children to see it and know that we believe it......
GOD IS GOOD.
Blessings,
Sara, Andy and the Babies
