It has been a LONG time since I last blogged. A lot has happened in our family, so I have much to report. The Lord has faithfully answered our prayer to provide us with a home in the country. We have prayed for a home where we can raise our children and give them room to run and play. Matt and I have prayed long and hard about this and have searched far and wide. Our dream of having land for our children to grow up on often times seemed impossible. We basically looked for a new home for two years, and during that time the Lord shut one door after another. Some of the homes we prayed over we really felt were what we needed. It was very discouraging for us to see one door after another shut. Over the last year we lived through having our house on the market for about a year. It was a huge burden to our whole family trying to show a house, being pregnant with baby number five, trying to keep homeschooling going and be ready at any time to show the house. Many times I cried out to the Lord to deliver us from what felt like such a huge inconvenience. All the while the Lord was preparing the right home for us, but we had to be patient and continue to trust His Sovereignty even when we could not see or understand His perfect plan. Basically the searching, praying, trying to sell a house, etc. went on for about two years.
Finally the night before Easter Matt and I decided we had probably wasted the past year and that we were going to have to give up on selling our house. For one we had received NO offers on it and secondly we could not find a home on land that was big enough for our growing family. We went to bed discouraged and heart weary over the matter. Well, the next day we pulled ourselves up and dressed the kids for church. Right before the service began I reached down into my purse to turn off my cell phone. That is when I saw that an offer had come in on my email. Since church was about to begin I could not open the attachment, so we waited until after church to open and read the offer. The Lord had resurrected our hope on resurrection Sunday. Isn't that just like Him to work in meaningful ways like that? We went home that afternoon and started searching homes on the internet again. The following week we spent many hours searching and searching. As it turns out there was a house that we had previously seen and driven by, but it was out of our budget. Well, that house had been on the market for about the same amount of time as our home. The owners kept dropping the price of the home as our house sat not doing anything. The Lord was having us wait until the price of the home was within reach for us. As He would have it to be the house dropped in price again about the same time that we received an offer on our house. The Lord was completely in control of all circumstances and timing. The rest is history. We went through the contract stage and closed on our new home.
We have been in our new home several weeks and are busily trying to get things set up and functioning. We have been blown away by the help that family and friends have provided. People have helped us move, watched our children, helped with unpacking and on and on. We have really been touched by the outpouring of help that people have provided. Moving onto 3.5 acres, in a house that needed a lot of work, with things that are not functioning correctly, during the last trimester of this pregnancy............has been a huge challenge. If it were not for the gracious help that so many have given I don't know how we would have made it. We are deeply appreciative.
We have seen the hand of the Lord in a miraculous provision of more than we thought possible. We would have been happy with one acre, but the Lord has given 3.5 acres. We did not pray for a pool, but He provided a pool. The whole family is loving it! The house feels huge, the location is ideal and much more. The Lord even provided a kitty for the children that came along with the house. :) He has just taken care of us day by day. No, none of this has been easy, and we have been bone weary many times but God has been faithful! He continues to help us day by day. Our children have been gone during much of this time staying with my parents off and on just so that we can try to get on top of things.
We know that big adjustments are ahead with Lilly Faith joining our family SOON and the kids coming back home, getting back to homeschooling, etc. Things still seem overwhelming, however, when I reflect upon how far the Lord has taken us I know He will continue to lead us through all the settling in and adjustments ahead. I share this story in hopes of encouraging my readers in the fact that our Lord is in control, He can move mountains, and He always answers prayer in His time and His way. We would not have chosen any of the trials over the past two years, but it is sweet to see the faithfulness of our Lord and what He has done for us. We do not deserve His goodness, but He delights in His children and in giving good gifts. One more thing, when we were going through this whole ordeal the Lord made it crystal clear that the house situation was a mountain that only He could move. Matt and I knew that there was NOTHING within our power to change the situation. The Lord ministered to me through the song that says, "Savior He can move the mountains; my God is mighty to save." Well, He did work in a mighty way, and we are so thankful. We want to use our new home/land to raise our children in His ways and to bless others who visit us. We pray that our home will reflect His goodness and be a blessing to many people. I will post pictures in the next post. :)
