Repost: Our God is THAT Good!

 This is a repost from the house post I wrote on January 13th 2012. I removed it during the waiting time...guess I didn't want people reminding me of what I wrote or asking questions about it. But now, I want to make sure I document any and all things that could bring God glory for what He has done.

Our God is THAT Good! I just LOVE that phrase!

Where to start... :)
Well, we were planning on starting the house search around march after we qualified for our VA home loan on Feb 18th. I've been 'watching' houses for a couple months on Trulia and Zillow and got weekly emails about any updates. One house on my list had dropped 11K in Nov and then another 10K Dec 31st. I checked out the property online again and looked at it from the hybrid map view. Come to find out it is within walking distance of 4 parks! And tons of bike trails around...and the back yard is freakin huge!

I kept sending Len texts about the amenities so close (his main house factor was finding one by a community center or nice park area) eventually, I asked him if he wanted to call the listing agent to just ask about the property...the next day we viewed it (Saturday) and on Monday we got pre-approved, Tuesday we put in our offer, Wednesday (today) we got the final negotiations done and we agreed on a price! (Talk about a good start to the week!)  :)

So here's where I start to try to describe how God's hand has been so evident in this...

A couple years ago NO ONE would give us a loan due to Len's financial situations. We ended up forced to declare bankruptcy (after 40K+ was stolen from us and the housing market in Cali TANKED and Len lost the rental property he owned) Actually getting the bankruptcy was a far stretch but the attorney agreeded that we absolutely needed it. He worked so hard and pulled several strings and we got our bankruptcy! Thank God #1

We have lived in a rental house for 4 years in Feb. I could not imagine a better experience! I couldn't imagine having better duplex neighbors! We've had so much fun growing into this house and making it our own. Even through all the issues with this very old house, they all got resolved. This house has an almost tangible peace in it. Thank God #2 for a fabulous 'waiting' time in this rental!

We know the desires God put in us and believed in faith that we would see those fulfilled...and fulfilled soon. (Every year I ask God for a word/feeling for the year. The last two have been 'It's going to be hard, but full of joy'  and 'hold on a little longer'. We get to this year and he says 'a new season is starting'.) Holy Moly! Do you know how good that feels to know that!! *tears* This year has so much potential and new things starting, but I didn't expect it to include finding a house in Jan! Thank God #3 for being faithful!

We'd be praying about our next house for months because we knew we would be looking in 2012. I think the main thing we asked for was SPACE. Space to breathe, space to run around, space to bring a new child into our family, space to have as a resource to others...just space! Well we got space...our new house is 58sqft shy of DOUBLING the size of our current residence! It's like God took our request seriously! :) 4 bed, 2 living, formal dining, all hardwood floors...even the stairs and all upstairs, 9 ft ceilings, half basketball court in backyard w/ deck, and humungo back yard. Thank God #4 for all the space!

The house is unique and I love it! I knew we both loved it as soon as we pulled out of the drive way. (well actually Len knew it for sure after driving around 51st and Lynn Lane again, where he had wanted to move to.) If you know me I love projects so much! I have to have projects to work on...not little crafty things, but 'real' projects. Well, God knows me pretty well too. :) He knew that when I saw this dirty, foreclosed house I would get all energized and excited about all the possibilities for projects! (I mean every room, every wall, all the trim, everything in that house needs my love!) God is so big I think he even allowed the house to get that dirty and allowed people to break in and steal the appliances from the kitchen to deter other people from wanting it. Thank God #5 for showing me even more that he loves me by giving me projects to do...projects for OUR home! (and lots of future before/after blog posts!) :)

Thank God #6 would be that we know where Ry will go to school in the fall! I think that may have been the biggest relief to me. It's a great Union elementary school within walking distance!

Thank God #7 just proves that He is big enough to take care of all our concerns...I was dreading the house search!! Len and I had different wants and desires, especially with location. I was so afraid it would be a long, argue-filled time and would be a drag on our relationship. Well...the search was nothing but perfect fun!! The first and only house we looked at we both loved! Only God could do that! :) And it turns out we know the next door neighbors! (I wonder why God set it up like that...I bet he has a plan) :)

And I guess my last Thank God, #8, would be just how fast everything went...I was an anxious mess those couple days....longing to know if this could really work out, just remembering the past and wondering if the interest rate would be too high that we wouldn't be able to get a loan. Well, how does 4% sound?? Sounds impossible to me!! But nope, that's what we got. How in the world did God do that?!

I believe God has led us, as we prayed he would, the past couple years to align all this for us. I can't believe he chose to bless us like this! I cried for so long...not feeling worthy or holy enough to be blessed. I mean, he went so above and beyond showing his faithfulness and love for us. I cried, realizing His hand on everything, I smiled and chuckled, realizing His hand on everything. I love him more after realizing His hand on everything. This is our testament...our story that God cares and He IS faithful and man, is He good! Let everyone who visits our home have an increase in their faith by seeing what God has done for us. I know my faith was tested...I remember the moment when I was thinking about how God totally took care of my dad...provided every necessity he needed and then went on to bless him tremendously. I didn't think that would happen to me. I had prayed for god to take care of dad b/c He was the only one who really could! After thinking about dad's story, I had a feeling of peace mixed with confidence that God could and would do that for us as well. I also got a feeling telling me to keep asking God for this specific house. (even though I felt like I couldn't ask for something like that.) So I did...
Thank you God...I hope to bring you glory every time I get to tell someone about our new home! :)
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