A Story of God's Provision: It Only Takes One
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
~Proverbs 3:5-6
Planning with the Unknown
As we have made plans for Southern Hills Baptist Church and for our move to Round Rock there have been a lot of unknowns, there have been a lot of question marks. One specific “unknown” has been the sale of our home. While Rachel and I are eager to make the move to Round Rock, we have known that it is not possible for us to leave Springfield before selling El Rancho Dawsey. This causes obvious difficulties as we work to develop a timeline for our ministry in Round Rock. As we share our ministry plans many people ask a very good question: when will you move? We have always said that our goal is mid June or early July, but in the back of our minds we have known it could be much longer. The timing of the move really depends on the selling of our house.
As we began to work with realtors we were reminded of the uncertainty of our situation. We were told over and over again that we are currently in a buyers market. They encouraged us to be patient. Most of them pointed out that the house two doors down from ours took over six months to sell and that the homeowners sold it for much less than they had hoped. I don’t want to sound greedy, but moving ain’t cheap so the prospect of losing money on our house was not an encouraging one. In addition, the realtors each kindly pointed out that the “colorful” street one block over from us may make our home difficult to sell. As they presented these different issues the consensus was always the same . . . “be patient, this will take time.”
Prayer: A Source of Strength
Times like these tend to push us to our knees. For believers, prayer should not be something we only pull out in hard times or as a last resort, but these types of situations are a great reminder of our need to cry out God. We are blessed to have family, friends and a church family that have prayed faithfully for the sale of our home. As Rachel and I prayed we were reminded of how amazing it is to have a Heavenly Father who hears us and answers us when we call out to Him in prayer. We rejoice in knowing that He always answers our prayers and that His answers are always in our best interest, even if it doesn’t seem that way. We know that His answers will help grow us into people who are more committed to loving Him and living for Him.
Us Worried? Psshhhh, Yeah Right!
We would be lying if we told you that we have not struggled with worry during this process. Our hearts are set on getting down to Round Rock and starting the work of Southern Hills and the prospect of being delayed is disappointing. Also, we have wondered how we can afford to make this transition if we lose money on our house. With those things in mind we put our house on the marked on May 5. Our realtor told us that we would see the most traffic in the first two weeks and that after two weeks things generally slow down. In the first week we did not have any showings. We had one appointment scheduled, but they cancelled after they drove down the aforementioned “colorful” street to the East of us. Week two came and went as well. We had a showing, but no one expressed any interest. At this point I began to prepare our team for what could be long process. I encouraged Matthew and Michelle to have patience and told them that our target dates may need to be adjusted. We could be living in Springfield for a while longer.
A Timely Reminder
During this time Matthew and I took a weekend trip to Round Rock in order to get to know the area better and to meet with some pastors. That Sunday night we attended a worship service at a downtown community church called Austin Stone. That night the student pastor preached a message about God’s provision based on the life of Jacob in Genesis 31. He reminded us that God called Jacob leave the place where he lived and to return to the land of his fathers. This was not an easy move for Jacob. It required a lot of sacrifice, but that did not stop Him. Jacob followed God even when it was difficult. As Jacob obeyed, God provided for him each step of the way. What a timely reminder for Matthew and I! As we worried about the uncertain sale of our house and the impact it would have on our plans we were reminded of God’s constant faithfulness and continual provision.
I was excited to share this encouraging message with Rachel. We serve a God who has a perfect plan and who is always faithful to those who trust in Him. We continued to pray, but now with a renewed confidence. We told one another that all we needed was one person to fall in love with our house. We didn’t ask God to send TEN families to see our house, we asked Him to send ONE who would buy it.
It Only Takes One
On Wednesday night at church and I had multiple friends ask if we had shown our house to anyone. Unfortunately, the answer was no. These kinds of questions can often remind me of our lack of progress, but I am blessed to have a church family who reminds me of the BIG God we serve. As I was driving home from church Rachel (who had been at work) called and told me that we had a showing the next morning. Finally, Good News! Thanks to Rachel’s decorative skills and hard work the house was immaculate and beautiful by Thursday morning, but by the end of the day we had not heard anything. By Friday afternoon we still hadn’t heard anything, but at 5 p.m. we got a phone call. They had made an offer and it was very close to our asking price. We made a counter offer and they accepted! By God’s good grace our house is officially under contract!
It is not a “seller’s market,” but God is bigger than the market. God is bigger than the “colorful” street to the East of us. The slow sell of the house down the street did not matter to Him. He did not need to send ten families to look at our house; He only needed to send one. That’s all He sent and that’s all it took! God is faithful to those who follow Him. It’s important to remember that answered prayer does not always mean that we get what we want, but God will always put us in a place where we can grow and serve Him. As we have witnessed His faithful provision we have grown in our faith and trust in our God.
It’s Getting Real
Needless to say, our move to Texas and the dream Southern Hills Baptist Church are becoming more and more real every day. Up to this point we had done a lot of planning and preparing, but we had not given up much. If we had decided to pull the plug we could have walked away fairly easily. We had invested our emotions, money and a lot of time, but we could have walked away without any real life changes. Now everything seems different. Our house is under contract and we are about three weeks away from being homeless! If that doesn’t make this move seem like a reality, I don’t know what does!
Another thing that has become very clear and real in our lives is God’s continued provision. As we follow Him, He continues to provide for us. Our lives and our ministry are testimonies of His faithfulness and provision. To His Glory!
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
~Proverbs 3:5-6
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