A Dream Come True

God works in mysterious ways.

That saying seems quite cliché to me and is often used by people who don’t serve him at all or tend to use him as a god of convenience. You could say that’s a pet peeve of mine, hearing someone say that. I mean, if you really think about it, God doesn’t work in mysterious ways. He works in HIS ways. His ways might be mysterious to us because our tiny human mind cannot wrap itself around His greatness, but those ways are not mysterious to Him. It’s just what He does. He is God.

This has been weighing on my mind for quite some time as I have walked through life lately. The last year or so have brought on trials that were more amazing than I could ever dream up. Who on earth can send their husband into a war zone and remain at complete peace the entire time, but suffer from complete anxiety and panic attacks because I miss him? That would be me. I can honestly say my heart felt like it was breaking in two pieces every single day because my other half wasn’t next to me; however, I never once gave it a thought that something might happen to him.

That sacrifice is probably the largest one we have made to get us where we wanted to be and it wasn’t an easy one to make on Ty, me or the kids. Our marriage is a testimony in and of itself that we are still together, and I can only hope and pray that it is a huge form of inspiration for those who know us. Marriage isn’t an easy thing, but neither is life. Even though things in life aren’t easy, I have been taught that things are well worth it in the end if we follow the Lord and remain obedient to His ways.

I’ve done my best to be obedient. I have my hang-ups and I’ve certainly screwed up royally over the years, but I’m thankful I serve a forgiving God. I didn’t write this blog to get into all of that, what I want to blog about is what the Lord has shown me in the past few months in the time we have been searching for homes.

As long as I can remember, I have always wanted an old house. An old colonial-style farm house with the plank baseboards and door and window frames, the wooden beam ceilings, the charm that surrounds a home like this, and make it my own. I’m not sure how long ago I gave up on this dream, even though I prayed fervently for it for years, but I do know why I gave up on this personal dream.

The first reason would be because an old house in this area usually holds a lot of historical value, therefore, the price reflects it. Secondly, if we could afford the asking price on an old house, it would be all we could afford and we wouldn’t be able to renovate it to make it energy efficient and modernize it.

Modernizing it would entail making sure it has the necessary amenities of a dishwasher (among other things). I hate washing dishes with a passion and would rather scrub the toilet with my own toothbrush before doing dishes, and that’s pretty bad. I’m more than happy to know my boys are old enough to load and unload the dishwasher now because I’m not even really a fan of that either.

After making an offer on a house in West Virginia, I prayed that if it wasn’t the Lord’s will and Ty’s job was not secure, that the Lord would let us know as soon as possible. One week later Ty lost his job. That wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for, but it was an answer nonetheless.

We eventually decided to stay in the area of Greencastle because we are so family oriented. We had an offer accepted on a second house, but that house needed a lot of work and they wouldn’t allow us to go through VA. As frustrating as it was, we knew that it wasn’t the Lord’s will for us to have that house.

Then out of the blue, our realtor sends me a listing that is $25,000 more than what we were approved at. We set up an appointment to look at the house and fell in love with it. But the house was in a short sale status and those could be a pain in the butt since the bank didn’t own the house just yet. We decided to put an offer in asking for 5% back of our asking price. The seller accepted our offer within two weeks.

Shortly after, the bank accepted our offer as well. To make a long story short, they had accepted our offer earlier but needed someone to pay $15,000 in back mortgage premium insurance payments. We didn’t have it, neither did the seller. Somehow, by the grace of God, the bank settled for $5,000 from the seller’s daughter and once again, our offer was good.

This house is a colonial house, completely renovated with the modern amenities. The heating and cooling has been refinished to operate separately on two floors. The summer kitchen is a historical part of the house left in tact and closed in to make a room that will become my scrap room, with wood beam ceilings. Above it is a loft. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The banister on the staircase is the original one from 1930. The windows have been replaced completely with updated versions but the plank baseboards and door and window frames are still there. The attic and basement are just what I wanted. Everything is the color I would make it. The kitchen cabinets are what I would pick out. The flooring is what I would have picked out.

I gave up on my dream a long time ago because I put a limit on God, basically saying we couldn’t do this because God wasn‘t big enough. What I seemed to have forgotten in the hussle and bussle of this busy life is even though I may have limits, God doesn’t. He doesn’t play like that.
I forgot about my dream until I saw this house. God never forgot my dream and just held onto it until the right time.

Not only did He give us the house I’ve always wanted, He made sure all the work was taken care of for us. He sat it in a place where life is convenient with four kids. We are across the street from the library, walking distance from the schools, only a few blocks from my brother’s house, the playground and everything else in town.

I’ve watched this all fall together without a hitch, just like things do when it’s the Lord’s will and I’m humbled. I’m humbled and forever grateful to be His child that He looks out for even when I don’t deserve it. He took care of all the details and to top it off, we got the house for approximately $33,000 less than what they were asking for because they ending up paying for our closing costs as well, and He saw to it that the $15,000 hang-up was taken care of quickly without us doing a thing.


His ways are not mysterious. They are His ways, and He is more than happy to show us when the time is right. His blessings are not small, because He is not small. He is limitless and His blessings reflect that. Our current blessing is a reflection of that and I want to praise Him for it. It is more than I could’ve ever asked for and a dream come true. Thank you, Lord, for loving and forgiving me when I wasn’t worthy of being loved or forgiven, and for always remembering what my heart’s desires were when I decided to give up. I couldn’t do this life without You.