Now to Him who is able…
If you’ve followed my blog for the last 10 years, you know
that the theme verses for our blog (and really life) are Ephesians
3:20-21. I usually focus on the “immeasurably
more” part (thus the name of my blog) when writing or thinking through what God
has done in our 14 years of marriage.
However, this time it is more fitting to focus on the first part of the
verse, “Now to Him who is able.” He is
able and I’d like to share with you how He has demonstrated this to me.
As many of you know we started the “next thing” last October when we began the paperwork and training involved for foster
care. At the time we thought it might be
good to get a bigger house (so we could be approved for more than one child) but just didn’t have the motivation/energy to get
the house ready to sell. So we went ahead
with the paperwork and figured we could worry about moving after we started
fostering. Well, you can read my previous post about how for many months things were not moving forward with the
homestudy and we just were not sure what to do.
We felt God had led us here but didn’t understand “the silence of God.”
I wrote “The Silence of God” blog post in May. As I ended that blog post I commented that
there were so many transitions in our life as we had decided to start working
on the house to get it ready to sell, and as we were getting ready for foster
care. We had so many unanswered
questions and we were not sure what to expect.
On top of that we decided it was time to send the kids to public
school. This was not a light decision,
in fact, it was a decision we had visited multiple times in the past 3 years,
but this was the first time we both had a peace about the decision. I had prayed many times that God would show
me if I should put the kids in public school and until May I was not sure, but
at that point it was clear to both Daniel and I that it was time and that the
decision was what was best for our family at the time. However, I was not willing to put my two,
small for their age, children in 5th grade in Davidson County. 5th grade is middle school and
they definitely weren’t ready for that.
So this is when things got complicated (at least in my
mind). It is the middle of May!!! How in the world are we going to sell our
house, buy a house, and get settled before school starts!?! It seemed so impossible to me. I was worried that it couldn’t be done and
the kids would have to start at a new school late in the year. I really wanted them to start on day one, but
day one was Aug. 1. So all these
questions were swirling around in my mind and I was getting anxious about all
of them!! As you know I write when I
have so much on my mind and so I began to write. I wrote out all my fears, every single one of
them and every single detail.
- fears about not having the time/resources/knowledge to get
the house ready to put on the market
- fears we couldn’t get it on the market and sell in time for
school
- fears they would make Benjamin repeat 4th grade
because of his birth date
- fears people would be upset about our decision
- fears the kids would be too behind to thrive at 5th
grade level
- fears that I will miss homeschooling
- fears that I made wrong decisions about our homestudy and
we might have to start it all over
And with each fear I wrote a prayer. A prayer giving that fear over to God. A prayer asking Him to give me peace, instead
of anxiety about it all. A prayer with
what I know God is able to do and asking that He do it! I ended those prayers with this: “Lord, there
is so much on my mind. Most is out of my
control. None of it do You want me to
worry about. All of it You want me to
bring to You in prayer, with thanksgiving (Philippians 4). Most of my requests seem impossible….but I know
nothing is impossible for You! Please
intervene.”
So I gave it all to Him and began the steps it takes to get
a house ready for the market. I had
already been cleaning out the house and packing because we knew we wanted to
sell the house, however, the decision to send the kids to school meant that
process had to speed up. So I started painting,
cleaning, rearranging and getting the house ready to sell. We had a few things going on that put us at the end of May before being ready to talk to our friend Misti about listing the
house. So we decided to put the house on
the market the first week of June. The
kids and I were going to be at VBS in Clarksville all week so we wouldn’t be
home to mess up the house.
Misti listed the house on Monday and said showings would
start on Wednesday. She had it set up to
have the agent schedule showings with me.
So on Wednesday while at VBS I confirmed 3 showings and then 2 more
showings later that evening. I was so
shocked that we had 5 showings on the first day!!! The next day as I am walking into VBS I have
a text from Misti saying we had two offers on the house, one at listing price
and one above! WOW! So exciting and so hard to focus on VBS now! The offers expired at 1:00 and I was at VBS
until 12:30 so I didn’t quite know what to do.
So basically in between classes I was calling and texting Daniel and
Misti. In the midst of that Daniel got a
message from a friend asking if we were selling our house. He said he had a friend that is a missionary
and is about to begin ministry in Madison.
He was looking for a house in the area to be close to the ministry. He had looked at our house the day before and
loved it. I told Daniel to call him
right away, since we already had two offers, and to let him know to get an offer
in quick. It turns out he was one of the
offers we already had! So we agreed to
the offer they gave us! GOD SOLD OUR
HOUSE IN ONE DAY AND TO MISSIONARIES!!!
I WAS ECSTATIC!!! Daniel and I
have such a heart for ministry and for missions and to think that God had a
plan in selling our house to missionaries was such a thrill to me! I just couldn’t believe it! I was so so happy! They wanted to close on July 12 and I figured
that would be perfect, that should give us time to find a house and get settled
before school started!
However, we had a few problems. The first problem was we only had one week to
look at houses before we all left for camp.
The other problem is that it is definitely a seller's market, so buying a
house proved to be difficult! We looked
at several houses the week we had free and only found one we really liked (it
didn’t fit our criteria 100% but we liked it a lot). It was a Wednesday and we were heading for
church. We told Misti we would consider
an offer and call her after church.
Before I even arrived at church the house had an offer, the people
accepted it and we were back to looking at houses. We really weren’t finding what we were
looking for so we didn’t worry about it and headed off to camp. So now we are at the end of June and we don’t
have a house. We have to be out of ours
in about 3 weeks! I start getting
fearful about school, not about where to live because we could live with my
parents or Daniel’s parents. But I
really wanted the kids to start school at their zoned school and on time! I began praying for an empty house.
Not long
after getting back from camp Misti sent a list of houses for us to look
at. There was one we really liked, but
it was over our budget. It fit all of
our criteria (4 bedrooms, a bonus room with a door, and a fenced in backyard)
so we decided to crunch the numbers and see If we could handle the payments,
and to see if we could get prequalified before we went to look at it (because
we knew when we saw it we would want it).
We got the okay from the mortgage
company so we went to look at it. We put
an offer on it and waited. We got a
counter offer and things went back and forth for a few days. She did not like the contingency to sell our
house on the contract but there was no way we could make an offer without
it. In fact I don’t think she would have
accepted the offer but I think that detail was overlooked at first. We set a July 12 closing date and all seemed
well. But then our mortgage company said
they had a 35 day waiting period and they could not close until Aug. 3. Oh no!
But school starts Aug. 1, I really wanted to be in and settled before
school started!! I wondered if we could
get the kids in their zoned school if we were living with Daniel’s parents in another
zone.
God is able….
So the seller did not want to agree to the Aug. 3 closing
date but eventually came around and accepted it. The house was empty (something I had been
praying about) and so we asked if we could possibly rent it from her from July
3 – Aug. 3. She sent us a rental
agreement saying we could rent starting July 12 and asked for a large
deposit. We decided we could not agree
to it and called Daniel’s parents to prepare them for our arrival on July
12. Since we rejected the offer she came
back with another offer and we were able to accept it! She also said we could move in the 9th
instead of the 12th (a huge, huge blessing. I don’t think we could have possibly gotten
all our stuff out on the 12th and been ready for the buyers of our
house to move in.).
So we moved in July 9 (without Josie because it was a “no
pets” rental agreement) but we were in the house. I took that week to unpack the essentials and
get the kids rooms set up. We closed on
the 12th and it cost more than we expected, so once again that
anxiety started to creep in. What if we don’t
have the money to close on the 3rd?
What if closing costs on this house are more than we expected like on
the other house? Now we are settled but
what if I can’t afford to buy school supplies?
Once again God stopped me and my worries and reminded me that He is able…. So I waited, sometimes not so patiently to
see what would happen. We got the kids
registered for school and they put them both in 5th grade! We met the neighbors and they have a boy
going into 5th grade and the other neighbors have a girl going into
5th grade. So the kids would
know someone at the start of school! We
also got zoned for the school where our good friend Jennifer teaches.
Now I need to update a bit on the foster situation. So we went month without hearing anything
from our agency. I had kindof given up
on them and thought once we moved we would start over with a new agency. They called the day after we sold our house
and said we would be approved by the following Monday! They e-mailed while I was at camp and I told
them I was at camp and would get back to them the following week. They called me when I got back from camp and
asked me when they could start looking at referrals for us. I told them we were packing our house to move
and I would let them know. She said it
is okay the kids can move with you. I
said, no, you don’t understand we are moving in like two weeks. She still didn’t take no for an answer. So all this time of not hearing from them and
now they are ready and we aren’t!! After
we put the offer on the house I told them we would close on Aug. 3 and get back
to them. They called 3 more times before
Aug. 3 and called Daniel once since I kept saying no!! Of course now that is after Aug. 3 we’ve
heard nothing from them, ha! But, we do
know they are looking for referral for us!
Now back to the house and school. The day before I needed to buy school
supplies we got the closing disclosure for the house. It was a lot less than they had
estimated! I was so relived and texted
my Mom and said, “God is taking care of the closing costs.” She replied “of course He is!!!” And so I felt relieved to feel comfortable
buying school supplies. The kids started
school on Aug. 1 and LOVED it! Hannah
had each neighbor in at least one of her classes. Benjamin didn’t but we later found out Daniel
works with a guy that has a son in his class.
We found this out at the closing.
The guy at the closing company also has a son in Benjamin’s class! We were just saying how we wished we knew
some parents with kids in Benjamin’s class and God provide that too! We closed on the house, it is ours, and our
dog is sitting with me as I type. Oh and
I’ve had complete peace and excitement over sending the kids to school. Daniel asked if I was going to cry dropping
them off. I said, “I don’t think so,”
and I didn’t. Just a new adventure for
us all and we are excited to be on it.
So God is able….
able to bring peace in chaotic situations
able to calm fears
able to sell houses in a day and to missionaries
able to help us buy a house and rent before closing
able to get the kids ready for school
able to work out even the smallest details
able to do what in my eyes seemed impossible
I am so excited about God’s plans for our family. I know He has us right where He wants us. He gave a house that we can use to minister
to foster kids. He has the kids in their
school and in the classes He wants them in and I know He has their good in mind. He has me home with Malachi and ready for
more! He has Daniel working right where
He wants him. I don’t know what is next,
but I know He brought us here. He
brought us here quickly. So I know He
has great things in store. But He likes
for me to wait. So I’ll sit here and
wait and see what is next for us! “Now
to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
1 comment:
Such a testament to God's faithfulness in your lives. So excited for this new chapter.
-Breanne
Post a Comment