Our amazing house story

April was three years ago that we moved to Georgia. We bought our house and moved here thinking that we'd be in it for the duration. Well, 15 months into our three years, we decided that we'd love to work harder on getting out of debt. So we came up with a plan that involved selling our house and moving closer to the base so we could have a smaller mortgage and one car. The plan didn't become a reality until we discovered the "perfect" house to buy.(thanks Joe Walker) When we realized that it could really happen we put the house on the market and waited. We started out with a bang and had tons of showings. About a month into it I discovered I was pregnant. Sterling wasn't even one yet. I was very taken back and very overwhelmed at the thought of moving into our "perfect" house. You have to understand that the house was MUCH smaller than what we were living in...hence the smaller mortgage. The house also needed a lot of yard work....tons....major over hauling. So after a month or so of debating internally, I told Brandon that there was no way I could move into that house. Forget the debt, forget the fact that the house was three miles from his office door. I COULD NOT DO IT. So we decided to leave the house on the market and just rent something cheaper when it sold. During the time that we were going to buy the "house" we became friends with the owners. December rolled around and their contract with their Realtor ran out and they wanted to re-list it with another agent. I offered to come help them "stage" the house before they started interviewing. The whole time I was in the "house" helping to clean and rearrange, I felt like it should be my stuff I was cleaning and my stuff that I was moving around. I didn't think much of it, still being pregnant and the house still being two bedrooms and the yard still being awful. I just figured that the house had a sweet spirit to it and that's why I felt like it should be ours. We didn't get our work finished so I told my friend I would come back again and when I did the same feelings were there, just stronger. This time I told Brandon about it and he said maybe we should buy it. I just said maybe. By this time, we had had a ton of showings, but no offers. Three weeks after we talked about buying the "house" we got an offer. Before we countered, we said, "If this works out, we'll buy the house." Well, it worked and we bought the house. Despite my concerns we did it. We just felt so strongly that we should. We knew that the area struggles with resales, and that we might get stuck with it as rental property, but we still felt like we should buy it. We felt like we wouldn't be stuck with it, but didn't know why it would all work out or how it would. So March of 2007 we moved in and didn't look back. We have loved living so close to Brandon's office and the yard has been a work in progress that worked out. As the year came to and end, we started looking towards this March as being the time we needed to get the house on the market. We had a laundry list of things that needed to be done to the house, but there just wasn't any urgency to get it done. We just couldn't figure out why we had this feeling of just wait, it will all work out. We wanted to have the house on the market by March 1st. It took till the 15th to get the sign in the yard, but we did it. Nothing happened and we talked about how we needed to list it with an agent, but still just felt like we should do nothing. Well, those of you who know me well know that I don't just do nothing. I'm a little bit of a control freak and like things to be planned and organized. This was too much for me, but I just couldn't shake the feeling. I knew it meant one of two things. Either it wasn't going to sell and we just needed to get it ready to rent or that it was gong to sell all on it's own and the right person was just going to walk by. One Sunday in late March, we were at church and I noticed a man that I don't usually notice. He's was there every Sunday and Brandon had talked to him a few times, but other than that I'd never thought twice about him. I looked at him and felt like I should invite him to dinner. I leaned over and whispered in Brandon's ear to invite Bob over for dinner. We had a nice dinner of pork tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, home made rolls and fresh salad. It was a nice dinner and the kids enjoyed Bob, and we had great conversation. I didn't think anything of the dinner. Three weeks later the phone rings and it was Bob. He says to me, I want to buy your house. And I say to him, I want you to buy our house. I was in shock, but at the same time I wasn't. I knew all along that the Lord would take care of it. We bought this house in faith for some unknown reason to us it was the right thing to do. We knew all along that we'd not be leaving Georgia owning a house that we didn't want to own, but it was so hard to accept that He was going to. It wasn't because I didn't think He could. I just didn't know why. I know now that I was prompted to ask Bob over for dinner. He wasn't in the market to buy a house and this house is so far below what he can afford, but when he came over, he realized it was just what he wanted. If I hadn't followed the prompting to ask him over that Sunday, I doubt I would have done it any other time. He asked the price and didn't even negotiate. He feels like it's a great price and is happy to pay it. He's even paying his own closing. We were prepared to walk away with nothing. Feeling like it was a blessing to be able to sell Brandon's Accord and save money and let those things be our blessings for buying such a small house in an area that most would consider beneath them. But now we'll be getting back every penny we put into the yard plus some. I wanted to share this experience with you all because I feel like I can't have it and not share it. The Lord is so mindful of us and our lives are so blessed. We close on June 19th and will rent it from him until July 19th. Man life is good when you trust in the Lord.