The New Casa

As I mentioned in the last post, we moved... again.  Let me just say, I do not enjoy moving.  However, I do love living in a place that feels like home.  The last 2 residences we have inhabited were what we needed for that season.  The price and timing worked out for both places, but neither of the places felt too much like home.  We ended up finding out that the last home we lived in had mold in the kitchen walls/cupboards.  Not something anyone would want in their house, especially with 2 little guys running around like we do.

So despite our greatest efforts, we weren't able to get it fixed the way we had hoped, and we had some trouble with our landlord.  That was when I decided it was time to search for a new house.  I had high hopes for our new place, and had a list of "must haves" along with a list of "would really likes".  I spent many hours days on Zillow, Craigs List, Trulia... you get the picture.  I found a lot of houses that I would've loved to live in, but the price of rent was really making it difficult to find one that fit my list, but that also fit our budget.

One evening, we were at eGroup, and one of the couples suggested that we talk to their friends who had just bought a new house and were wanting to rent the one they were previously living in.  We got in touch, and I went to look at the house.  It had all our "must haves" and most of our "would really likes"!! Oh happy day! Not only that, but this incredibly wonderful couple made it financially possible for us to rent from them.  When I came over to see the house for the first time, the owner told me about how she had been praying for their future renters, and that God had laid it on her heart that it would be a "safe" place for someone to live.  She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she waited.  She got a call from a friend (Suzy from our eGroup) and said "I have a family that is looking for a house to rent, the house they are living in has mold, and they don't feel safe".  She knew right then that this was what God meant.

Unfortunately, we had to figure out how we were going to get out of our contract, and work out all the details of moving. There was a point in all this that I ended up giving up, I didn't know how it would all work out so that we could move into this new house.  I was convinced that my efforts were not enough, and I had to surrender my desires over to God.  I started praying that Philip would feel the same conviction to surrender the whole situation over.

Side note!  Ladies, one thing I am learning (and I don't get it right every time) is when I bring to God the things I want to see change in my husband to Him, then he either works that change out in him, or changes my heart to give grace, and be at peace with where we are.  Let me tell you, this is so much better than nagging!  Nagging, I have learned, does not work. Bringing your concerns to God does.  If our husbands are seeking God, and there is change needed, God is gonna work on him.  Isn't that so freeing?!  I'll have to do a whole other post on that later :)

 Anyways, back to it. A couple days later Philip came to me and said we should let God work it out and he would provide.  This was a particularly difficult one for us to let go, because there was quite a bit of money that we would be losing due to breaking our contract, and we had felt that we deserved something because we had been living and dealing with the mold in the house.  (The boys had an incredibly sick season while living there.  We don't know if this was caused by the mold, but it could have been related)  I think we both felt the need to protect and provide safety for our family, and we realized that was best done by surrendering it over to God.

When we released this, He worked everything out in His timing. Praise Jesus!  We packed up and moved within the next month and have been here since mid August.

It has 3 bedrooms,

2 full baths, a nice big living room,

 a kitchen with a gas stove, (Yeah!)

and a beautiful fenced in backyard.

 Not only does it have all of these perks, but it is 10 minutes away from the location we serve at and attend.  We are currently working on putting in a fire pit with some seating in the back, and finishing up some little projects inside.

We finally feel at home.  We are so grateful for God's provision and consistent reminders to allow him to be God in our lives.  Recently we had a ladies event, and our Pastor's wife Holly spoke.  One thing she said that stuck out was "What's beyond my control is in God's Control".

Is there something in your life that you are trying to control that should be in His?  Maybe something to think about in your next quiet time.  :)

Happy Hump Day!

With Love, From Charlotte