Originally posted on Facebook 3/16/20
I have mixed emotions today as we officially say goodbye to the Fairmount house.
It has been a wild journey. 12 years ago, in one phone call I went from unable to and uninterested in buying a house, to being locked in with $25,000 in grants to make it possible. I had been praying for God to find me a home in a community I could serve deeply, I just didn’t think He’d give me a house.
That house was a blessing for us and others in so many ways, and we only left because God invited us to a new adventure in a new house around the corner (at another time I wasn’t looking for it or able to afford it).
And while we tried to sell it for years, He barred us until last summer. We thought it was to provide the funds for our 5 month DTS; it wasn’t. He wanted to show Himself as a powerful Provider in other ways, and covered every expense without the house selling.
In fact, the house didn’t sell for 6 months.
Part of my mixed emotions is that I still don’t know all of what God was and is doing through that process.
If it was all about financial security, He would have made it sell the first day for above asking; it could have, as a great house at a modest price. It definitely wouldn’t have sat for 6 months and dropped $50K.
So what was God doing? What did our steps of obedience and faith yield?
–He strengthened our resolve to take scary steps of faith. Almost monthly we had to pray about a tough decision, and trust Him whether He gave clarity or not.
–He got us to step into the DTS at Kona, which we likely wouldn’t have if we hadn’t thought the house would provide the funds.
–He revealed the genius of Him using the Body for His provision. We have been deeply encouraged in ways we wouldn’t have if we could just pay it ourselves, relationships have deepened, and He has used our journey to speak to others taking faith steps around finances.
–He created a safety net in a time — because of the virus — when we may see a drop in support, and may not be able to build new support for a while. If we had used the house funds for DTS, we could have been in a tough position soon.
–He has been teaching us what it means to walk in obedience, even if it won’t “benefit” us, even if it seems to make things worse, because, honestly, He deserves all and we deserve nothing. There have been many moments I would have desired differently, and I am striving to remember it is not about me, but God. And yet, He still shows His love.
–He has worked in powerful ways outside us that we may never know. Perhaps He brought the price down because He wanted to bless the buyer in a special way; perhaps there is something with the timing that He is doing for people we may never meet.
I could keep going, but what I know is that we — to the best of our ability — tried to seek God with this house, for the last 12 years and the last 6 months on the market, and we know that He has worked.
We are forever grateful for Alison Snow McCabe, Richmond Real Estate, who persevered through not one, but two very long and crazy house processes. We can’t express how much she and her family have blessed us.
We are forever grateful for a God who is a good provider, and has done abundantly more than we asked or imagined through our homes.
We have prayed a tremendous amount for that house on Fairmount, and can’t wait to see what God has in store for it.
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CodyArt RVA 