The Lord will do amazing things

"Joshua told the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.'" ~Joshua 3:5

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We are VERY thankful for those who have helped us
fix up this house and who are planning to help us move
into it

This house purchase was impossible for us.
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To begin with, we weren't looking for a new house yet and the house wasn't for sale yet. But we were praying "for new neighbors with kids" (that intention was on my daughters' prayer lists to petition the Lord for it every day) and our friends across the street from our new house were praying that a family with kids would purchase that particular house. We didn't know that the answer to our prayer was that we would be the "new neighbors with kids" and our friends didn't know that we would be the answer to their prayer. They didn't know we were starting to seriously plan to move nor that we wanted to move to their neighborhood. Besides, the house wasn't for sale. It was a fairly recent foreclosure and some foreclosures take years before they're finally put on the market.
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This house needed some upgrades and repairs. Nothing too serious, at least for someone accustomed to doing their own remodeling work, but we're not that type of person. I don't own my own tools and my husband doesn't hang drywall for a hobby. He has done a lot of work on our first home, but because the work needed to be done, not because he needed some busywork. He usually asked a handyman friend to help him out, to finish the project when it moved out of his league, or hired someone from the get-go.
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Our realtor told us at closing that he had expected our particular type of loan to take an additional 2-3 months. He said our mortgage loan officer had done a great job getting the mortgage closed so quickly, which was true. If you need a mortgage, we can provide a recommendation. But also we credit the Lord for making the impossible come true in a very timely manner.
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Friends and family have helped. It is often a real
asset to have a large family and a tremendous
blessing to have a large church family.

Although there is a lot of work for us in this house, the structure, the location, and the details of it are absolutely catered to our family. It is the layout designed for the type of hospitality we want to offer, is not too big for our current family size yet has plenty of space for our family to grow if the Lord decides to bless us with more children. It is in the ideal location for our family dreams for the next 20 years. All these dreams which the doors are opening up for us are good dreams submitted to the Lord's will and the reality of this house comes about in His timing. I am writing this story here because we want as many people as possible to know that God really does work miracles still, and this is one example of His loving power to do more for us than we could ever ask for or imagine.
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The story isn't finished yet. We don't know fully what His plans are for our old house. We owe too much on it (thank you, Housing Crash of 2008) to sell it right now and we certainly don't want to see it empty or walk away from it. We continue to pray and seek the Lord's will so that He can continue to use it for His glory even while we live in another house. Our contractor is nearly finished with his part in remodeling our Joshua house and we'll be moving into it in a couple more weeks. Then, we'll see what is to happen to the house we are moving out of.
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Thankful Thursday: This isn't my blog
Happy Heritage: Prayer of Faith
Buying a Home the Joshua Way Pt 1
Buying a Home the Joshua Way Pt 2
Buying a Home the Joshua Way Pt 3
The Lord will do amazing things
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Linked with Modest Monday