Our new home...

I am finally able to update you on how things turned out.

Over the course of the last few weeks we have been furiously seeking after what God's will for us would be and whether that meant buying a home or building one. We prayed that the answer would be really obvious for us, because honestly, we're both quite stubborn at times and didn't want to miss it!

I went and toured probably over twenty homes as well as drove around from one end of the county to the other multiples times looking at the exterior of probably fifty more. I've spent hours researching and trying to dig up any information that I could to help us in this decision.

One of the homes we toured just seemed to fit perfectly. It's not what I thought we would have wanted, not in the school district that I thought we wanted, or even the same age of a home I thought we would want. But as soon as we toured it, I was in love with it.

We made an off which was not accepted and a counter offer was given. Marcus and I prayed about what God would have us do and we both agreed on a certain number that we felt like the house was worth. After a few counter offers, the seller wouldn't come down anymore. We tried to look at other houses, we considered building, but we kept coming back to this house. We had a long talk, spent some time together in prayer, and felt like we should make one last attempt. We stuck to the number that we had originally agreed on and just prayed that if this was where God wanted us to go that He would change the seller's heart. If she came down (as she had said multiple times she would not do), then we had peace about moving forward. If she wouldn't, then we knew that God had another plan and we would rent a home for a while.

We made our offer and waited anxiously to hear. It took forever for her to respond, but we got the call today that she did! We are getting an incredible deal on this home at $63.00 a square foot! If we were to build, it costs around $130.00 a foot, so we are thrilled with the cost. This home will definitely need some updating, and some TLC, but I know that it is going to be a great place for our family.

I have been daydreaming about it since I first looked at it two weeks ago and can't wait to work on it room by room. It is a big house, bigger than I thought we would ever live in, but was priced great because it was older. It has a beautifully landscaped yard, a finished basement plus a basement workshop, four bedrooms, a sunroom, three fireplaces, a wrap around porch...It is so much more than we deserve.

 My life verse is Ephesians 3:20 which says to Him who is able to do abundantly, exceedingly more than all we ask or imagine...to HIM be the Glory!  When I think about this house and how God has led us this far, I am overwhelmed with how He is blessing us abundantly and exceedingly more than I could have imagined.

We still don't know what lies ahead and at any time the deal could fall through, but for now, we are moving ahead expectantly. We want our home to be a place of ministry and service for others and are looking forward to making many years of memories there.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us during this process!