The Story of Buying Our House (Part 2)

Continued from yesterday's post. (Please click here to read Part 1: The Story of Buying Our House)

Not only were we surprised to find that we actually liked this house, but it also happened to be the cheapest one we’d looked at yet.

It wasn't anything fancy, but we weren't expecting anything like that anyway. It was a humble ranch starter-home—which we quickly deemed "the log cabin"—that had recently been renovated, updated with all new appliances and furnace. The backyard was filled with a tower of trees that made me feel like I was in the midst of a nature preserve rather than the heart of suburbia.

It all seemed too good to be true, it seemed like there was no way it could actually come together. In the past, we had always been outbid or days too late in coming to the table. Even so, we waited a week before making an offer.

As the days ticked by, I started worrying, What if we missed our chance?! But I quickly caught myself and remembered that God is not consigned to time. If this was the right home for us, the timing would all work out. We needn’t rush into anything in haste. We could trust that God—who cares about our souls and hearts but also, so graciously, even about the littlest things in our lives, like buying a home—would be able to overcome even those circumstances.

We were shocked when they came back and accepted our offer. Even our stipulation that they cover all closing costs and throw in the fancy fridge in the kitchen.

That had never happened before.

So for the first time, we found ourselves in uncharted territory, calling up inspectors, making negotiations and letting the concept sink in: We are buying a house!

As the idea of purchasing this home—for what seemed too good to be true—started to sink in during those first days, so did something else. Anxiety started to worm its way in, twisting and contorting the beautiful possibility that lay before me: What if the house ends up falling apart in a year? What if everything needs to be replaced? What if…?

I soberly recognized that in those thoughts, I was expecting God to pull the rug out from beneath me. That something this good couldn’t be. There had to be a catch somewhere.

But then the Holy Spirit countered and reminded me: That is not the way God works.

And so, I prayed, Lord, let me be pleasantly surprised. Let this house not be something that ends up crushing us under the weight of misfortune. But let it be something that is just one more reminder of His gracious love and mercy, to provide a perfectly good home to his children—no strings or smashing anvils attached.

We walked cautiously into the series of inspections, waiting with bated breath for the results. Each time we were, in fact, pleasantly surprised with the findings. Sure, with a house built in the 1970s, there were plenty of minor fixes and updates that were recommended. But nothing disastrous. Nothing like what I'd feared.

I admit that I was astonished at how God was answering that prayer of mine to be "pleasantly surprised." And as I watched and waited, the anxieties began to melt away as we inched closer and closer to the reality that this would in fact become our home.

We signed the final documents last Friday and are already in the midst of packing up boxes and picking out paint colors as we turn this little homestead into our own.

I can’t wait to show you this home-sweet-home of ours. Until then, we stand in awe at how God's love has been written all over this journey of ours, how he has taken something as simple and as ordinary as buying a house and has used it to remind us of his unfailing love and mercies.

And right in time for Thanksgiving, no less. What timing. We have so much to be grateful for...

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The Process of Turning a House into a Home 
Getting a Little Taste of Home Ownership 
Daydreaming about our someday, future home

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