no more bad news

The disappointment upon hearing we didn’t get the big new house took me by surprise. I was more disappointed than I thought I would be. So when I was driving home from work and listening to pastor paul shepard on the radio, I asked the Lord, ‘Lord when? When are we going to get our house?’ I went on and on about my questions and letting out my frustrations while the pastor on the radio was talking about God’s time line and how impatient we all are nowadays. I shut my mouth and paid attention to the pastor.

‘why are we all in such a hurry? Jesus waited 30 years before he began his ministry, and his ministry only lasted for 3 years. Why do we get so upset when we stand in line at the grocery store and there are 5 people ahead of us? Aren’t we supposed to be grateful we didn’t have to grow any of the food we eat? Just think about how long you would have to wait to eat that apple had you planted it yourself.’

God was speaking to me through the pastor’s message. So I said, ‘Ok Lord. I’ll shut up now and wait for you. You know the best time for everything and I will wait. You are in control; you hold my world in your hands.’ So I was driving, enjoying my silence and the renewed peace that the Lord gave me, when my phone started to ring. It was my real estate agent. I thought she was calling to let me know that we should start looking for houses again and start from scratch. But she said,

‘Almira, the first house you wanted…they lowered their price and it’s yours if you want it. You will have the keys in your hand before Thanksgiving.’

Can you imagine my shock?! All I could say was, ‘I have to tell my husband!’. So we hung up and I was frantically trying to get in touch with my husband. It wasn’t until evening that I FINALLY spoke to him.

So we discussed, we weighed the pros and cons

Pros:
· The house has the things we need (4 bedrooms, 2 baths)
· Kitchen is semi-updated
· 2 car garage, side by side with room for 2 more cars in the driveway
· It’s in a nice neighborhood with a BIG back yard for michelle to run around
· The BIG backyard!

Cons:
· It’s an older house
· The master bedroom does not have its own bathroom
· Will need to get new appliances (the previous owner took the appliances away!)
· It’s not as pretty as the new house
· Did I say it’s an older house?

We made our decision and called our agent and agreed to buy the house (driven mostly by the lot size and the great neighborhood). We will officially be homeowners by next week! Yey!!!!!

What have I learned in this whole process? That I am not in control. No matter how I try to steer things my way and get the outcome I want, the final decision is made by the Lord. I really really really have to trust him more and more. When has he failed me?

Just to let you know, our beloved pastor has the gift of dreams (like Joseph the dreamer) where many of her dreams happen in real life. She had a dream about two weeks ago and in her dream she asked Paul, ‘So when are you going to move to your new house?’ In her dream Paul answered, ‘November 26 po, Pastora.’ I called my mortgage lender today and he asked me, ‘When do you want to close the deal?’ I said, ‘Can we close by end of next week?’ And he said, ‘I’m emailing the loan processor as I talk to you.’ and he typed (he read it while he typed), ‘Can we close by Tuesday, November 25th?’ I asked him, ‘are you sure we can close that soon?’ and he replied, ‘Almira, we have all the documents we need. We could have closed last month if the seller got their act together.’ That means we can move in by November 26! Isn’t that a trip!!!!!!???? WOW!!! God proves that he is in control in all situations no matter how big or how small.

I’ve kinda stressed about the money we’ve already spent on trying to purchase this house, from the rate lock to the home inspection and I was upset that if we bought different house, that money we paid (and it’s quite a sum) will all go to waste because we’ll have to spend that money again on a house that we will buy. Can you imagine the details that the Lord takes care of to get everything we need together? He wasn’t kidding when he said, ‘I know the plans I have for you…’ He really knows what he’s doing and we are in no position to ever doubt what he can do!

I am ever so humbled by his graciousness. Sa dinami dami ng pagkukulang at pagkakasala namin, who are we to receive such abundant blessings from Him? *sigh* I encourage anyone reading this to fully trust in the Lord. To follow and obey his commands, to give your tithes and offering to your church, and to read and meditate on his word everyday. I don’t know where our family would be without the loving hand of God guiding us each and every single day. He is good! To God be the glory!!!!