The Story of Finding our House

We looked and waited, and in God’s timing and His perfect way, he found us a house.  Almost seven months after we moved to our new state and city- we moved into our home.  Here is the story of finding our house. It was worth the wait.

Waiting

In the blog on God is working in your waiting- I talked about waiting in life.  Sometimes it seems we wait all the time.  In my example- I said we were waiting for a house and only God knew why it was a long wait.

Indeed, God had a plan far better than mine.  “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20

 This is the verse I kept mumbling to myself last summer as we were waiting to find jobs.   See the blog link called Mumbling and Meditating on God’s Word.

Timing is in God’s Hands

Our move to Virginia started around Thanksgiving 2020 and then we rented an apartment with a 6-month lease.  We were hoping to find a house in 3 months and would need to spend some time fixing or painting before moving in.  The extra months would be helpful. 

Realtors

My husband and I started looking for a home with a realtor recommended by two different sources.  Many houses were viewed online in December and January and we hadn’t ever physically looked at a house or met the realtor.  He gave us access to the MLS listings. 

We had no idea where things were located, so we ended up doing a drive-by of homes to see if we liked the neighborhoods and the yards.  Most of the houses we rejected because the outside or location didn’t work for us.  

The realtor would send us links to two to four houses a week, which were usually houses we had already driven by since I had discovered them on Zillow.com.   We decided he wasn’t working out for us when he listed a house close to our feature list and never told us about it.  I also was starting a job and didn’t have time to be the main home searcher.  It seemed like he was better at selling houses than finding houses.   

We messaged our MN realtor, Jody Carley, at Realtygroup and she sent us an email of a realtor in our city she had found.   Within hours, Kaitlyn was back at us sending us house ideas every day.   Kaitlyn Sine is with Wainsright Realty in Virginia and is a young go-getter, who never left a house unturned for us to look at online or visit.   In the first two weeks, we met her and looked at a house.  

Looking and Looking

As time went on, we kept looking and looking and something was always off- too far from work, tiny yard, too much remodeling, basement in the garage, no garage, two-story, or split level.  If the yard was perfect the house wasn’t, if the house was perfect the location was too far away.  

Both of us were beginning to wonder if only 5% of the houses in the community were a house we would want to buy.  Only a few were listed that were even of interest.  

Our home requirements were based on our past homes from living in the Midwest.  The goal was to downsize to a 3-bedroom, 2 bath ranch home, with a good kitchen, an outdoor area, and a two-car garage.

House looking online and mostly by driving by the houses is what we did. We only ended up walking through 6 or 7 actual houses before we found ours.  Many Houses were being sold fast.  One house was sold within 6 hours of being listed and they canceled our viewing. 

Finding a House – God Knows

I had commented to my friend last February, “God knows the house for us, maybe He is building it or maybe the family doesn’t even know they will be moving and selling their house.”

Finally, after extending our lease “month to month” in month 6 we put an offer on a new house.  It had everything on one level and met our criteria except for a smaller yard.  I figure God wanted to save us lawn mowing time!  We put in an offer for the list price.  The prices are crazy right now!

That weekend we went to the church we liked and met the staff at a “pizza with the pastor’s” lunch after church. This was the church we would consider if we lived near it.  Later that night we got the call that our offer was accepted and we also knew what church God had picked for us too.

Here is the funny “God thing”- the realtor selling this house was the first realtor we let go of.  God must have had this house picked for us as it was being built, and said…oh well, I can get another realtor going too.   Plan A doesn’t work, He goes to plan B.

  

The Move

We closed on our house on June 17^th and spent the weekend moving from our apartment. Since we sold most of our stuff before moving to Virginia, we didn’t have much to move.  During the past 6 months, we only acquired the essentials like a bed, nightstands, lamps, and outdoor chairs we used for the table.  Needless to say, we are living minimalistic and are glad our house isn’t that big to add furniture. 

God knows your heart and sees your dreams.

God Knows Our Story

In the past 6 months, I was dreaming through Pinterest pinning house ideas that I liked.  My ideas- were full of variety. Dreaming about what my house will be like- will I need to fix up some rooms or will they come this way or will I need to build a house in the future? God knew the story of finding our house- before we even started looking.

When you walk into our house and look at the indoor and outdoor pictures I pinned, there are many similarities. Even though I didn’t pick out a thing. God was looking at my pins and picked it all out for us.   God is so Good.

The home we owned in MN for 20 years had many details added to the house that were upgraded and not common.  My husband loved to make things look good and paid attention to details.  I often thought I don’t know if we will find a home that people have taken care of and paid attention to the details. 

God heard that and the builders of our home were a couple of men who were HVAC/builders who paid attention to the details.  My husband was so excited to have quality work done on this house with many upgrades.

God knows the Plan

We waited and waited, and anticipated.  Some days we wondered if we would be living in the apartment for another 6 months.   “God, what do you want us to do?  Where do you want us to live? ”

My husband and I don’t know how long we will live here, but we have some ideas about how long.   You and I know that only God knows the plans and the places we will live, and the people we will meet.  We didn’t plan to live in a new house in our location, but that is where God has us now.  

Anna- Lytical Me

As I look back, I think, “You know God, you could have told us you would find us a house in May, and then we wouldn’t have had to spend so much time driving by houses and looking.” 

Ahh- but God wanted us to pray, trust in him, and dream. 

I realize during those 6 months we drove around the city looking up addresses we learned about every area of the community.   We now have a big map of the city in our heads.

Sometimes God has you do something or wait for something for a bigger reason- nothing is that simple.  I also think if this was the first house we looked at, I don’t know if we would have picked it immediately. We may have thought we needed a bigger yard.

Sharing Our Home with Others

Now, we need to get settled, invite people over and make some connections and friends.  We love hospitality and cooking for people and having small groups at our home.  This will be a place we intend to share with others.  God knew our hearts. We are thankful for the home he has blessed us with. It was more than we could ask or imagine.

Blessings to you as you wait for what God has for you next.   It’s worth the wait.  Be patient even when you get discouraged, as we now share the story of finding our house. Not just a house but our home. God knows you, sees you and hears you. The story of finding our house.

Let me join you in praying for your waiting? What are you waiting for? Comment your prayer request.

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