It is official - we are buying a house here in Fayetteville, AR. It has been such a long road, but completely worth the wait. Waiting is not a strength of mine, but God continues to "make me wait" to teach me the perfection of HIS timing and provision for me.
We sold our house in Columbia, SC right before the housing market bubble burst in 2007 before we moved to Evansville, IN. It went well and we made enough money to have a great start on a down payment for the next house. Who knew we would have to wait more than 4 years.
In 2009 we attempted to purchase a house on our favorite street in Evansville just a block west of the UE campus. It was a charming red-brick fixer upper with a lot more room than we had ever had and tons of potential. We diligently prayed that God would work out all the details if that was the house for us. After a number of complications through the negotiation process, spending $1000 on inspections and the appraisal, we walked away. It was clearly not the right house for us. As the rest of 2009 unfolded, we were so thankful that God redirected us away from that house.
Not having a house to sell this year was a great burden lifted as we made the decision to move to Fayetteville. We decided to purchase a house right away in Fayetteville so we planned a house hunting trip in May. All the while I had been praying that God would direct us to the house he had already chosen for us. Due to our budget at the time and houses on the market, we looked at 17 houses on that trip and none of them were in Fayetteville. They were in Springdale and Farmington - two neighboring cities to Fayetteville. We selected 2 houses that we really liked and attempted to purchase both of them. The first fell through quickly - they just rejected our offer. The second fell through after the inspection. So we had no place to live, but were still moving in 3 months. "Oh God, what are you doing?", I thought. I was angry, fearful, frustrated and disappointed. I had several episodes of complete over reaction and failure to trust God.
Well, as always, God had a better plan for us that I was slow to recognize. Our realtor found a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom duplex one block from campus that we could rent dirt cheap month to month. It has been great! Tyrone walks to work and the kids' schools are 5 minutes away. It is pretty small that we had to store a lot of stuff which will help make the move to our house easier. It has helped to ease the expense of moving and transitioning to a new city.
The house that we will close on on October 26 is only 4 miles from campus here in Fayetteville. It has ALL the things we were looking for plus some other bonus conveniences. It has been on the market for a year and almost sold last fall. We believe God was saving it for us all this time. We were even able to save additional money this summer for the down payment and some renovations.
Once again, God had a plan and I only had to trust him and wait for his perfect timing so we could experience his goodness for our family. I often feel silly for reacting the way I do to adversity so I am thankful for his patience with me and glad that HIS FAITHFULNESS is unwavering.
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