Heart Changer, Home Changer

So God has lead us to move closer to the campus in order to use our house more effectively for ministry to the students. Here’s the quick run down. We decided to follow Him, though it meant giving up our friends, family, neighbors (who are beyond description in their help and care for us), the safety and security of our neighborhood and the top school in the entire state that I automatically would be able to have our boys go to.

So we put our house on the market and it went under contract in 3 weeks. We kept looking for a place to move to but were unable to find a place within 5 min. from campus in our price range. We looked at house where the location, yard, square feet and floor plan were exactly what we needed for a ministry house, but it was WAY out of our price range. There was another house a bit closer to our price range that was one of the most beautiful houses I have ever seen on the inside, but was not perfect for ministry like the other house. Austin really really liked the other house, so I thought it couldn’t hurt to support Austin in moving forward to put an offer on it. It would take a miracle for them to accept our $50,000 less than the appraised value of the home offer. If they accepted, I would be incredibly grateful that we got another opportunity to brag on God. And if they didn’t, we could try to the other house. So we gave God an opportunity to show up. We offered them the most we could, our ridiculously low, unheard of low amount.

The next day I went to the Deeper Still Conference (Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer speaking) and there I was, listening to Priscilla speak about leaving God Margin. Basically surrendering all your resources to God and leaving room for Him to show up, not holding anything back ‘just in case’. We had given Him our all, and there we were waiting for Him to come through. So I was praying that the sellers would be willing to lay down their resources for God's glory (we found out they were believers who lead a bible study in their home). While Priscilla was speaking I got a text from Austin saying they were going over the offer right then. At the end of Priscilla’s talk, almost the entire stadium stood up declaring they wanted to lay their resources at Jesus' feet, I was overwhelmed. Other people’s risks absolutely do affect others around them, and I was overwhelmed thinking about wanting to be the recipient of the sellers laying their resources down, but not sure I could handle the incredible sacrifice they would have to make.

Then Beth Moore started to speak. And not long into her talk about Blessing and how we are blessed, I got another text from Austin wanting me to call him. When I called, He told me they had accepted the offer!! They said we were an answer to their prayers b/c we wanted to use it for ministry and were a young family. Wow!!!  The seller said that 2 weeks ago God told her that a man would be coming to buy the house and for her to sell it to him. So, she asked her realtor if she thought that was all we could offer (with our embarrassingly low amount) and the realtor told the seller she should counter offer. But the seller said, no, God told me they would buy it. There I was balling in the back of the stadium, overwhelmed that once again in my life (like He does over and over and over) set up a real life situation to experience Him... to see His glory worked out in my life, so I can brag about Him. I walked back to my seat when Beth was having people write down the definition of blessed "One pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his life. The hand of God is at work directing all his affairs for a divine purpose, and thus, in a sense, such a person lives Coram Deo, before the face of God." As I told the people sitting around me (who had prayed for the situation after your talk) tears and laughter broke out on everyone's faces. God was showing them what this blessing tangibly looked like. God was showing them His power and His sovereignty and that He can and would come through when people trusted Him. Oh, I am still overwhelmed with gratitude of what God did and how He did it!!!

And I just cant wait to meet this 80 something lady who is so willing to surrender her resources out of obedience to God. What a woman of faith!