A New Home

I am having difficulty gathering my thoughts today. It has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks and a search for a home in Kentucky. The week before we went the Lord had been teaching me a lot about joy. I am doing a study by Elizabeth George on the fruits of the spirit. The gift of joy was a good reminder for me during this anticipation of our time of transition. Joy is not happiness. Happiness is a state of good fortune and prosperity related to and dependent on circumstances. Joy is dependent on the spiritual realities of God's goodness, His unconditional love for us, and His ultimate victory over sin and darkness. Joy is based on the truth about our relationship with the Father through Jesus the son. Joy is choosing to look beyond what appears to be true in our life to what is true about our life in Christ. I knew that I had been a bit emotional lately...basing my happiness day by day on what tasks I could get completed and where we were on the process of moving. My joy should not be dependent on things that are going on or circumstances of my day. Moving is stressful. So many unknowns. A big one for us what where are we going to live? Mind you the Lord has not yet brought the buyers for our home in Cushing and we are to start in Kentucky soon. Satan was trying to steal my joy by placing doubt. The Lord is continuing to teach me and show me that His hand is over us and is capable alone to make all of the plans and details come to completion for His glory. So off we went house hunting. We would just simply trust the Lord. He is the anchor of our souls. "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us." Hebrews 6:19-20. I am so thankful He is sure and steadfast and that He continues to show himself faithful time and time again. I cannot go much further without telling you how the Lord has blessed us with the most wonderful friend and realtor in Morehead, Mrs. Margie. Abby with St.Claire Hospital recommended her and all I can say is I absolutely love how God loves to weave his followers together. Mrs. Margie has been a blessing from above. "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." James 1:17. I am thankful for this gift of guidance from the Lord for our family as we sought out housing in Morehead. We trust her, admire her and love her dearly. When it finally came down to two homes and we were so unsure as the best choice she was up alot of the night interceding on our behalf. May the Lord bless her and honor her for her love and prayers over us. She wanted God's best for us and prayed the Lord would open our eyes to that, however that looked and He did. So we were off to Morehead. Andrew told us, "Mom, I know why they call it Morehead?....Because people just kept coming and coming and they had "more" "heads"!" Such a funny guy. After one long and one short day of driving we finally arrived. The kids were super excited and ready to find a house. Andrew also asked if we were going to have people with cameras with us recording our search because he really didn't want to do that because he was shy. After we reassured him that no cameras were involved we were off. We looked at a couple of rental homes and a handful of homes for sale. One home stood out. One home the kids liked overall. I'm really not sure why they liked it...it was vacant. One house we looked at had toys in every room....like more toys than I have ever seen in my entire life and yet they were drawn to the house on Hickory Drive. It was a good home. Far larger than I ever dreamed of having to clean. It needed lots of restoration. Lots of renovation. We continued to pray. That morning in my quiet time the Lord gave me two words....have faith..I was studying in Hebrews Chapter 6. I wrote this verse in my journal, "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:38 says "The just shall live by faith." But what is faith? Hebrews 11:11 says "It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wanted to approach God must believe both that He exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek Him" Faith is to believe, trust, or have confidence in what God has promised, resulting in a life of faithfulness and perseverance. I wrote in my journal what I felt like the Lord was telling my heart: "Two words today. Have. Faith. Believe what I have revealed to you and the works I have prepared beforehand that you should walk in them." So we prayed and decided to have faith and trust that the Lord would take care of our home in Cushing so we could serve Him in Morehead. We made an offer on the home on Hickory Drive. Things did not go as smoothly as we had wished. It needs lots of work and it had been on the market, vacant for two years. The seller was not coming off of the price like we had hoped. We waited and continued to pray. The other home that was available was brand new but so compact, a bunch of small rooms. I could not see us hosting there. I could not see us opening our home as often and easily to share our lives and share Christ with the people He was going to bring into our circle. We decided to stop negotiating and go back and look at the new home. No updates. Great geothermal heating and cooling unit. New. We prayed that night that the Lord would open our eyes to His desires for us. Our struggle was in thinking it through and trying to be good stewards. We were not really wanting to spend a whole lot on a big loan and then have to do renovations as well. This world is not our home. Everything we have, everything we "own" does not last. What was God's best for us? Where would our ministry be best served? Tough questions. The Lord led us back again to 561 Hickory Drive. Restoration. We are to restore the home. We are to shine the light of Jesus in Morehead, Ky using this home He has so lavishly bestowed to us so that people may seek restoration with the Lord. We drove home from Kentucky not sure how the Lord was going to work this deal out. We finally came to an agreement with the seller and he agreed to not close until March 4, 2013 but let us move in December 27 and pay him two months rent until the Lord provides a buyer for our home in Cushing. We have a new home! We have faith that God will show himself strong and bring a buyer in His perfect timing. We are thankful for His provision for our family and truly have joy as we look at the realities of God's goodness, His unconditional love for us and His victory over sin and darkness. We are thankful He truly is Jesus Emmanuel: the One who always stands with us. We are excited for what the Lord has in store. Another new home with a Kentucky address. A temporary place for us to live for Christ until He calls us to our eternal home with Him! Oh Happy Day!