I know I’ve been MIA since July, but I have a good reason for it! We bought a house! Moises and I are so excited and have been very busy moving in along with updating the house. I’ve dreamt of owning a home for a long time, but I never thought it would happen this soon.
We were in a tough spot. Although our plan is to still move overseas, timing is so uncertain along with so many other things in the world today. Our lease was going to be up soon, and we didn’t want to be tied down by another year long lease. We began thinking and praying until one day Moi suggested, “We could buy a house.” I couldn’t believe it. Was that even possible?
“We have the savings and income. We won’t have to worry about a lease, and we can rent our house while we’re living overseas. Plus, we’ll have a house to come home to.”
More prayer began and we asked God to make a way if this was His will and close every door if it wasn’t. Then we began house hunting. After putting in offers on three houses we liked and not getting any of them we started to feel a little discouraged. We had been telling ourselves the whole time, “If we don’t get the house it’s because God has something better.” But after three rejections I started to wonder, Is this God closing the doors? Moi didn’t seem to think so. We pressed on continuing our search for the perfect house.
One day in June our realtor told us about a cute three-bedroom, two-bath house with a big backyard that she thought we would like. We agreed we wanted to see it. Before we even finished looking at the house I turned to Moi and whispered, “I love it!” He nodded and smiled, “Me too.”
“We’re going to have to fight for this house,” I told him.
We were told the realtor for the house had already received seven phone calls asking to see the house hours after she had put the “for sale” sign up. And the reason we didn’t get the other three houses was because they had all received multiple offers and we just couldn’t compete with the other (sometimes outlandish) offers. In my mind, there was no way we were getting this house without a fight.
We put in our offer knowing there were no other offers yet and waited. That same day we received a call from our realtor. We got the house! There had been no other offers. We couldn’t believe it! We later found out the next day the offers started pouring in. We didn’t have to fight for this house at all. God gave us this house! God is so good! And He has been a constant provider in this precarious season.
Through the excitement and hustle and bustle of trying to get moved in and settled there was very little down time. We were painting, ripping up wallpaper, changing light fixtures, the locks, and hardware. Until one day I took some time to stop and reflect. I realized I needed to take a step back and refocus because just like I had during my wedding planning I was once again swept up by the idea of living in Pinterest perfection. I was getting caught up in the dream the world has placed before me along with my own dreamy thoughts until I reached a point where I was no longer looking at what’s important. I was fixated on the wrong thing. This house is a gift from God and Moi and I knew from the beginning if He gave us a house we wanted to be good stewards of this gift.
I asked the Lord for forgiveness for getting distracted by all the shiny things of the world. All I need is Jesus to be satisfied and nothing more. His gifts are simply an unexpected “bonus.” The result of His gracious and loving heart. Ever since that day of reflection I’ve found myself content and grateful for this beautiful home. Aesthetically, it’s not quite where I want it to be and that’s okay because I have time to make it into our home. But I’m no longer being driven by a greedy, selfish desire for all the things I come across. We have what we need and I’m happy. As new needs arise, we’ll make adjustments. For now, we’re satisfied to be living in our little work in progress. We can’t wait to grow here and see what the Lord has in store for us and our wonderful gift.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.”
Psalm 127:1a
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