My friend AnNicole at Our Suburban Cottage is having a party today that I thought I would join. Today I am going to tell you “How I Met My House.”
My husband, my son and I had just moved from Washington state to Indiana for my husband to pursue a dream of working with his best friend from college.
We had designed and built a house in Washington and I loved every bit of it. Just to give you a glimpse…picture apple trees in our backyard, acreage, wild blackberries, horses across the street, coyote noises at night, crickets chirping and a gorgeous view of Mt. Hood from our back porch.
Moment of silence for my last house….
It took a whopping 6 months to sell, which seemed like an eternity. In that time period we started the Financial Peace University course by financial guru, Dave Ramsey. His thoughts on money had us reeling and we knew we had to honor God with our finances and make a tough decision about our future home…ahem…and the price we would pay.
Also being the fact that my husband is a pastor we have VERY limited interaction with people outside the walls of church since our life is pretty much consumed with the ups and downs of being in full-time ministry. As much as we loved living in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors and a lot of land we felt a tug on our hearts to move to a subdivision with real people, real problems, real drama all REAL close to our home.
Long story short we found a ginormous brick house (3900 sq feet) in a cul-de-sac with a third car garage. It had 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a huge loft and it was $100,000 under our price range. It was a bank foreclosure and it was at the end of the year and they wanted it off their books before the fiscal year ended. It was way undervalued and besides the fact that everything was builder basic it was a great house. Plus we were able to take out a 15 year mortgage (which we will pay off in 10 years instead).
Meet my home back in 2007…
I truly felt God’s hand in purchasing this house and I can tell you it was definitely His plan for us to move here. We have been able to be a “light” in our subdivision and have witnessed first hand God at work around us. It has been a huge blessing to call this house my home.
So…how did you meet your home? I would love to hear your story.
Beautiful story! I love how God makes a house into a home.
God's blessings,
Sarah 😀
What an awesome story. I wish that when we found our HUD home it was as big as yours -as I'm wishing now that we had more room — but actually had an offer on a house 5 years ago and it fell through. I was so bummed -but the same day that fell through we found a HUD/foreclosed home in a fancy pants neighborhood (we're a more modest home among them) that we bid on and won and have been so blessed by our neighbors and church members we've met since living here. We now have bookoo equity in our home now too which is an added bonus. I, like you, am glad that we are led to certain places by Someone who knows the bigger picture and knows more than we do!
I love your story! We lived in several different apartments, while we saved money for a house. Periodically in that 8 years we would go house-hunting and leave with a "that's all I can afford?" sigh. Finally, we had saved enough, and moved up in our jobs to the point that we could afford the kind of house we wanted. We searched through several neighborhoods and found one we loved, but we were worried it cost too much. So, we found the same style house in a different neighborhood. Neither of us was thrilled with the neighborhood, but we were trying to be responsible. The day came when we called the realtor to make an offer…she was no where to be found! All of her numbers went to voicemail. So, we wandered back to the house we loved in the neighborhood we loved and told the story to the realtor on site. He helped us navigate the loan process in a way that made the house within our price range. Since, we've been able to refinance twice, the second time putting us on a shorter mortgage! And…the neighnorhood is exactly the place we want to raise our children!
Love the house story and the house. But I am more shocked to learn 2 new things about you. First I can't believe you are from Washington, that's where I live! And that your husband is a pastor! How'd I miss that?
Love the story! It's amazing how God's will is sometimes completely in line with ours, and sometimes completely different. 🙂 That's why I'm from Virginia, got married and moved to Texas, and now live in Missouri…with my pastor husband. 🙂
Awesome story! We are on week 7 of Financial Peace, isn't it great?!
I am so proud of you for getting less of a house than you could afford and doing the 15 year mortgage! What a huge relief that will be when it's paid off in 10 years. You deserve to have a party that day!
The house is beautiful too!
We also have a God-story of how we found our house. I shared the story here:
http://amberdawnlo.blogspot.com/2009/08/sneak-peak-at-blessed-house.html
Enjoyed reading yours.
I met my home when we moved in 5 1/2 years ago. My husband found out his company was transferring us from Indy to Alabama when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with our 2nd child. Setting the beginning of school as a deadline meant my husband did all of the house-hunting while I was in the new-baby fog. So I literally met my home the day we moved in. A leap of faith or temporary insanity…take your pick!
What a lovely story! It's awesome when you can see God's hand in the everyday things!
We drove our poor Realtor crazy driving around to Repo's when we first moved to Lancaster, PA. We didn't end up with one, but now in our second home here we are very settled and happy.
My Dad was a Pastor and I appreciate your heart for those you serve.
Becky K.
Hospitality Lane
Great story !!! What an absolutely stunning home you have, I loved reading this !
What an awesome story. I can totally understand where you are coming from, I'm a PK-and my dad moved us from KY to MO back to KY. He drives 1.5 hours to church from our house, and he sacrificed a lot for us-and church.
I've gotten married and moved out of my parent's home. Today we are trying to follow Dave Ramsey and his example, and what God wants us to do. Its been hard for us, but I know that it will be the best for us in the long run. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story Beckie! My husband is in ministry as well. It's fun to hear that we have that in common!
Hey girl – what a cool story! It seriously gave me chills. That's exactly how I felt when we found our house. I could feel God's hand through the entire process.
And I love your devotion to financial santiy. We'll have to chat about that sometime :).
What a wonderful story. I miss Indiana. I grew up in Columbus, In. but now live in Utah where my husband grew up. Your home is beautiful.
We are in FPU right now with out church and LOVE all of the teachings. It truly changes your thoughts on money. We are blessed to have the course and we are almost debit free!!!