Waiting on the Lord

I posted this to my facebook account on March 11: A word the Lord has given me this month...wait. Not my favorite word for sure but He alone is worthy! "Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14

We have been in a constant state of waiting on the Lord for the right people to purchase our home in Cushing. Waiting. Trusting. Leaning into Him. Hiding in His wings. Relying on His provision. 

This time the sale of a home has been different. In Tulsa when we prepared to move to Cushing, the Lord did something completely different. He spoke to our hearts to put our home up for sale six months before we were to actually move to Cushing. We prayed. We packed. We cleaned. We bought a for sale by owner sign and put it in the garage. We wrestled with the Lord. Dustin was in residency and we had three small children; in fact, Abigial was about seven months old. We had no idea where we would live if we sold the house so soon. We trusted God's plans were best. One day with his leading we put the sign in the yard...and TWO HOURS later just as I had finished cleaning the house and put lunch on the table...I looked out the front window and someone was getting a flyer off of our sign. Ten minutes later Paul and Krista Smith were in our home with their realtor. They were the new owners. We had a contact signed that evening. The realtor was actually a member from our church and we had taught her daughter in youth. We had never met her before. They "just happened to be" driving through the neighborhood looking at a few other homes and saw our sign. They were looking for our home! It really was their home the whole time. I remember standing in the entry way talking with them that day. No shower. A little bewildered at all that was happening so fast. I was juggling children and showing them our home. Paul asked, "Why are you selling your home." I remember looking at him and thinking he is truly going to think I am crazy when I answered, "The Lord is moving us to Cushing in about six months and He kept telling us to get ready...the new owners are coming." He asked me, "How long has it been for sale." When I replied, "Two hours." We were all quiet. I truly believe seeing God's hand that day was such a blessing of obedience. We could have just not listened to the Holy Spirit's leading. We could have just put it up for sale a couple of months before we were to be in Cushing. It wasn't easy. It wasn't comfortable at the time at all. God's best for us is not always easy. It is not always comfortable. God's best for us was to listen to His leading or we would have missed out on his provision. And we so love the Smith's. They are such a sweet couple that loves the Lord and we have been able to keep in contact with them and share life with them as we have all grown in the years since then. God provided that day. In TWO HOURS I met the new owners of our home. He provided a rental home for us that was perfect for our needs. We packed everything except what we really had to use for six months and packed the garage of the rental. We were able to purchase a home in Cushing without the headache of a home needing to sell and close beforehand. This is the sign that was in our yard. God provided for sure!

 This past January I led a ladies bible study in my home and was reminded of this so much. God provides for His Children. In one of the workbook pages it asked...what is your biggest go God story? A time in your life where you without a doubt saw the hand of God move. I thought about it for a while and knew that the sell of our home in Tulsa really was my biggest go God story. The next question kind of blew me away...it said, "What is your biggest doubt right now." Oh my. Well honestly...it was the sell of another house. Another story but connected indeed. We had been waiting on the sell of our home in Cushing for 18 months. Um, yea. 18 months. That is a long time. Again we followed the Lord in obedience and came to serve in Morehead, Kentucky. We knew without a single doubt that He was working and that He was providing every step of the way before we moved here. We trusted that He would take care of all the details. We moved to Kentucky December 28, 2012. One of the big details was the sell of our home in Cushing. As month after month drew on I found it easy to get upset at God. I found that Satan loved to put his little foot into my heart and cause doubt that the new buyer was never coming. We were to close on our home in Morehead in March 2014 and we honestly believed the Lord would provide a buyer before then and all would go smoothy. The end of February came and we had no buyer. We continued to pray. How could we even afford two homes or qualify for two mortgages? Our realtor here in Morehead, Margie Elam, is a blessing from the Lord. She gave us great wisdom, prayed with us and for us. She told me, "God will make a way where there seems no way." She was so right. God provided again and again. We continued to trust Him. We continued to pray every day that He would bring the right buyers to our home in Cushing. God HAS provided. We are set to close on our home in Cushing in His perfect timing. April 18, 2014. It is not surprisingly Good Friday. It will be a very special Good Friday for our family as we see again in such a tangible way that the Lord hears our prayers and truly desires the best for us. Waiting on the Lord is honestly not fun. In my selfishness I much rather liked the TWO HOUR wait for God to provide the right buyers over our NINETEEN MONTH wait. Do know what has been awesome through this all? Sharing this journey with our children. They have prayed every day with us through this. Last week we spent some time talking about it. I asked them, 'Do you think it makes God any less faithful to provide if it took nineteen months...longer than we had wanted?" The truth is He provided every month during that whole nineteen month period. We were never for want. We have been able to give and serve in Haiti. We have been provided for more than I really can even explain right now as I am writing this. His hand has been upon every detail perhaps just to remind us again that He loves us, desires His best for us, and will continue to be the Good Shepherd that He promises to be to those that love Him, obey His word and walk in His ways. As we have waited He has taught us so much and we have grown in our faith and in our walk with Him. I guess waiting is a good thing. A really, really good thing. He alone is worthy! Thank you to all that have prayed with us and walked with us during this journey. We are so thankful for your love.   

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His great riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19