Sunday, August 8, 2010

What Do I do NOW?

The house had to go! Keeping up monthly payments on an empty house was out of the question. Emotions tugged at my heart.

There was no question about it, knowing in advance about a move to a new state in a year, required much preparation!

My husband built our large home a few years earlier, and I really enjoyed raising our children there during their teenage years. The design of the downstairs area could easily allow for a mother-in-law quarters or for a separate rental space. Yes, a very special buyer was needed to step up with an offer for this home.

High hopes were dashed as an offer fell through! It seemed like it was going to take some time before another prospect could be found, but late one evening, a couple showed up at our door! They said their agent asked them to come by (without an advanced phone call) and requested us to do a walk through. Too late to worry about disorder now! I told my husband to explain to them that the place might not be picked up as it usually was. They agreed to look past any clutter.

Suddenly, the woman called out from the bathroom! She had spied my Bible and some Christian books on the back of the commode. Evidentially that was a sign to her. She told her husband that this was a blessed house and they needed to make an offer.

Theirs was the best offer yet! They planned to use the downstairs as an apartment for missionaries who would stay with them on occasion. This would still be a blessed house!

Now we had another problem. We hadn’t expected the house to sell so quickly, so now we needed to find a place live. Eleven months was all we needed. Most landlords want a permanent tenant and we knew the Lord had to help us. We scanned the newspaper and my daughter excitedly showed us something that might be our answer.

Not far away was a landlord who wanted renters for 11 months. It was almost unbelievable! Almost as quickly as we viewed the house, we signed an agreement to move in within 30 days. We filled their two-car garage with our furniture that we did not need in the small rental home.

Things were fine for eight months, but an unexpected call from the Landlord upset our plans. They had decided to sell their rental house ahead of time, and we had thirty days notice to move! At least we had some advanced warning so we could go to go to our summer place and build a garage to store our extra furniture.

My husband was tired from working so hard, and he wasn’t happy about the prospect! Yet, he knew the timing was right! He employed two local boys, and in a long week end they poured a cement floor and raised a nice garage. We ultimately moved all the furniture that we were not going to need in the big move, to that garage.

With only two months left before our planned departure, we prayed and asked the Lord to provide.

Again my daughter scanned the newspaper. There was an ad for house-sitters! A couple was planning a trip to Europe and needed house sitters. Yes, you guessed it – for two months! We worked out financial details and agreed to pay the utilities and their rent while they were gone. They moved their personal items to a shed in the rear, but most of the house remained furnished. What a blessing!

Coinciding with their return, we were ready! Our truck was loaded with beds and dog boxes. Our van, filled with personal and household items, two dogs, a cat and a bird made it official. We took off for Oklahoma!

Do you ever wonder “What is next?” “What do I do now?”

It is good to learn to trust and obey!

This doesn’t mean that a person might not have a few butterflies at times, or that there might not be a few hitches along the way - - -

God knows your every need down to the smallest detail. Rely on Him.

He will make it clear just what you should do and which way to go!

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