If you’ve been clocking me on Pinterest lately, you’ve probably noticed a trend in my recent pins… home decor! That’s because…
WE’RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!
Well, technically, I guess we bought a house… It doesn’t feel like it yet because it’s basically just studs in the ground at this point, but the contract is signed and we’re just waiting for our closing date so… YAAAYYY!!!
This is our first home purchase and let me just tell you, God is GOOD! Everyone was telling me how stressful it would be and how frustrating and never-ending and all of that. And there was a bit of that in the beginning, no question. When we moved out of our apartment and back home last year, we had a goal of saving up to buy a house. We gave ourselves a year and figured we’d be good to go by then. Of course, almost immediately, life hit. Thousands of dollars in car maintenance and repairs and several months later, we finally started to see some progress in our savings plan.
We started house hunting and absolutely nothing felt right. Everything we looked at just wasn’t it. We even started arguing with each other about our expectations and requirements and what was reasonable vs. what wasn’t and who was going to have to compromise on what; until finally I said JUST STOP. We had to stop. We couldn’t go on like that. We both wanted this to be a fun process and not one that brought undue stress and strain. So we put the entire house hunting ordeal on hold for about a month or so–no online searching, no driving around, and definitely no Pinterest. Too. Much. Stress.
We both took that time off to pray and really seek direction from God as to where we should go and what we should do. We were even contemplating just moving out and renting something until we found what we really wanted, but I wasn’t convinced of that. After what seemed like an eternity waiting for some clarity from God, I got a very clear sense that we should buy. Didn’t know what, didn’t know where, I just knew we were supposed to buy. Ooooook then.
Well that narrowed down our search (a bit) because it ix-nayed all the rental options. But as we scoured the land with our realtor looking at resales, nothing felt right. I started looking into new construction options (even buying land and building from scratch! Yikes!) and felt like that was more the way to go. There are several new neighborhoods coming up within a reasonable distance of Anthony’s job, so we started with those. We looked and looked, but it felt like the same. Of course they were prettier and bigger and newer and didn’t need any work at all, but they still just weren’t it.
If there’s one thing I learned from my mother over all these years of watching her make decisions on God’s guidance alone, it’s this: you will always have peace when it’s the right thing. It’ll be clear as day, and you’ll feel good about it. Whether it’s what you want or not, you’ll know this is it. Always. So that’s what I started praying for, that God would give us both clarity and peace when we walked through the door and that we’d just know.
Then, a funny thing happened. I emerged from Sunday School one morning and Anthony was giving me the usual synopsis of the service. I don’t remember much of what he said other than this: we were launching a building campaign and when we give, we must give by faith and make room for God to work a miracle in our lives. Then in prayer He heard specifically from God: Give half of what we’d saved for our house downpayment. Now if this were me a few years ago, I would’ve panicked. But by now I’ve seen how God works, and I know how amazing it feels to be a part of something He’s calling us to do, so I simply said ok. I didn’t bother doing the math to figure out how far behind we’d be or any of that. We went home, got our checkbook and brought our gift back to church with us that evening. Exactly one week later, the unthinkable happened.
It was probably 2 or 3am when I just woke up early one Saturday morning. When that happens, I always pray. I prayed for nothing in particular, and then couldn’t help but do one more search for new builds in the area. I thought, why bother? I’ve done this a bunch of times and I’m pretty sure an entire community isn’t just going to show up out of nowhere. It did. Right near where we had hoped to be, this neighborhood showed up in my search results. In particular, one builder popped up with what seemed like a too-good-to-be-true offer. I scrolled through the model home pictures (I always look at the kitchen first!) and really felt like we should go see it. I may or may not have woken Anthony up right that minute to show him what I found and to beg him to squeeze in a trip to the model house in the middle of what was already a busy day for us. He (sleepily) agreed and I went back to bed so excited! I knew something awesome was going to happen.
As soon as we stepped over the threshold in the model home the next morning, we just knew. It was perfect. It was all the pieces of the other floorplans we’d seen put together to be the perfect fit for us. AND THAT KITCHENNNNN!!!! Don’t ever think God doesn’t care about the details you care about, because HE DOES!
After reveling in the joy of how God perfectly puts things together, I felt strongly we should go back again the next day. Now if you know Anthony, the only thing happening after church Sunday morning is food and home. He will occasionally surprise me and suggest we go out with friends and family or out, just the two of us, but after the hectic day we had on Saturday, I just knew he would be set on going straight home. But by some small miracle đ he agreed and we went back. As soon as we got there, the sales consultant said, “You’ll never guess what happened. I got a new incentive package today and thought of you immediately.” The incentive package was exactly 10 times what we gave in our sacrificial building fund offering and was more than enough to cover the interior and structural upgrades to the house that we wanted! Only GOD! I literally stood there and cried. I’m so glad we didn’t give into the initial stress of house buying and rush into anything. I’m so thankful for a husband that prays before making any major decisions. I’m in awe of my God whose faithfulness to us is far beyond what we deserve and whose blessings are so much greater than what we could ever imagine.
What big decision is your family facing today? I encourage you to be patient, be faithful in prayer, and allow God to lead you to His perfect plan. He will if you let Him. He has always come through for me, and I know He’ll do the same for you!
Jeoff Moore says
July 26, 2016 at 12:29 pmOur God is an Awesome God and he always delivers to the Faithful! Thanks for sharing this powerful testimony and message Kendall & Anthony. God will continue to Bless your lives and new home!
Leopold says
July 26, 2016 at 5:30 pmThis is amazing. Faith works when it’s applied. Congrats on the kitchen and the house that comes with it. ?
Kendall says
July 28, 2016 at 12:33 amThanks Leo! đ