The house story....and walking on the water


This has been a crazy season here at our home.  Crazy-crazy.  
Like nothing I ever thought would be happening.
This song keeps running through my head the whole time: 


It's long, I know, but well worth the listen....trust me.  

If you don't have time to listen just now - here are the lyrics.


Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Lyrics

JOEL HOUSTON, MATT CROCKER, SALOMON LIGHTHELM


You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown, where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep, my faith will stand

 And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours, and You are mine

 Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed, and You won't start now

 So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours, and You are mine

 Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior x 3

We're moving.  I think that's the craziest of all. 
Coming out of the divorce with my kids all living primarily with me in our family home has been a HUGE blessing.  They needed the stability and the assurance that both their dad and I had their best interests at heart.  And for the most part, it's been a fairly smooth transition.  But I've known all along that with only my single income, keeping this house wasn't an option indefinitely so I've been keeping my eyes open for something to downsize into that would both a.) fit my current family and also b.) be a viable option for me when they all move away from home (which, sadly, kids tend to do).  

I've looked at several houses and I've been scouring the local real estate sites for a long time now.  The house that piqued my interest the most was a house I went to see last Fall.  It had almost everything we needed except for 2 things.  1.) The price point between what I could get for mine, and what they were asking for that one wasn't a wide enough gap to make it worthwhile.  And 2.) It was weird. 
By weird, I mean it was ROUND. 

 I couldn't quite wrap my head around such a weird house and whether we could pull it off.  So, despite seeing it in person twice last October, I let it go and decided to wait.  

The months went on through this viciously cold winter and I kept looking at real estate websites, flyers, and even private sales.  Nothing seemed to jump out at me and the more I looked, the more I kept coming back to this house I'd looked at in Fall.  This January/February, I had a month or two of stress over it.  If you know me at all....I'm not a worrier.  I don't worry.  I don't stress.  But this house issue was causing me stress.  Finally one day in March, I was sitting and doing my devotions in the morning (house on the brain) and I came across this verse:

James 4:2
You do not have because you do not ask God.

Sometimes you just KNOW that you're being spoken to....am I right?

So, I wrote down the verse.  And then I took out a clean piece of paper and started writing down the list of have-to-have's in a house.  Not any house in particular, just a house.   And I asked.

About 2-3 days later, I received an email from my real estate agent.  It said (in part) this:

"Cathy,
Do you still think about the round house? It still has not sold. I would be willing to write a lower offer and give them the opportunity to respond to it. They can say no. 
Sometimes we have not because we ask not."

And again.....sometimes you just KNOW.
I knew.  I knew that at the very least, I had to explore the option one more time.

Long story short:  I went to see it again; completely reconciled the "weird" factor in my head and knew it would come down to finances.   I offered really low; they counter-offered middle of the road (well within my window). I listed mine a few days later (after a few long, hard days of purging and cleaning it up); asked high and got a really nice counter-offer (also within my window) the day after I listed it.  
Signs like that are hard to ignore.  

Crazy-crazy.  
Not at all where I thought I'd be. 
In the past few years:  Working full time? In a middle school? No more grade 1's?  Divorced?  For the most part single-parenting?  Teenagers?  Owning a house, on my own? Selling and buying another house, on my own? 
 I feel like I'm walking on water....deeper than I ever thought my feet would wander....into the great unknown where feet may fail.  My feet.  May fail.  
BUT I am totally seeing  that I'm finding God in the mystery of this adventure.  He's calling me out.  His sovereign hand is my guide.  He hasn't failed and I expect he won't start now.  And in the middle of this my faith is being made stronger in the presence of my Saviour. 

1 comments:

Alanne Schellenberg said...

Words fail to express the majesty of God, Our Father, Daddy. So thankful to be on this journey with you. You are an amazing woman of God.