The 'Man - God is sooo cool' house story

OK, here’s a ‘got God written all over it’ story for you! (It's a  bit long, but worth reading right down to the end!) I've linked this post to Linnys blog over at A Place Called Simplicity as a memorial box Monday post (even tho it's not Monday!). Click here to read about Memorial Boxes, it's something I've been wanting to start for a long time & I think a little house will be perfect for our box when we get it!

On the last day of our time in Uganda, we went looking at rental houses with the couple we’ll be working with & an agent. We weren’t looking to sign up for anything, just to see what’s available for the money we’re budgeting, & for the Bartons to get an idea of what we’re looking for to be able to look for one before our return. The first house we come to we just think - what on earth are we doing even looking at a place like this, way above our budget. Anyway, we walk in and it just felt like we were coming home. We went on to look at some more homes – some had bigger yards, or other features but we just really felt that first place was where we’re meant to live! This was early October, & we aren’t needing a place til Jan/Feb. The Bartons suggested getting the landlady around for a chat, turns out it’s the same landlady they have! They agreed it would be a miracle if we could get it for the money we were budgeting (a large amount below what she was wanting), & that even if she agreed, we’d most likely have to agree to rent increases each year. It’s also common for someone to take a few days/week deciding before coming to a decision on such matters. We were flying home the next day!

Within 15 minutes or so of meeting, the landlady agreed to our price, no mention of rent increases for the next 3 years & the current tenants move out end of November, then she wants to do a few repairs before renting it out so we wouldn’t take over the lease til beginning of January! That’s enough for a happy dance right there, but the story’s just starting!! It’s a great place – & compared to everything else we saw for the money we got a fantastic deal! Even has 4 bedrooms which we didn’t expect to get!

That night lying in bed, it hit me……… We’d signed up to rent a house for the next 3 years & agreed to pay 3 months rent end of November to secure it, another 3 months rent beginning of January (it’s standard to pay rent 6mths in advance in Uganda), and we hadn’t even sold our house yet!! In fact, we hadn’t even had a call from an agent about it for the last 5 months! Clear as day (or night as it was!) God spoke into my spirit telling me to stop praying for the house to sell, it’s already sold. Just pray that what has already been done in the spiritual, be outworked in the natural. Mmmm… ok….. will do! So that’s how we started praying, & asked those praying with us to agree with us in prayer for the sale to show in the natural! You always feel a bit vulnerable putting yourself out there like that. Is that really what God said? What happens if the house doesn’t sell? Are we going to look like total idiots?!!

Well, that night we didn’t sleep much! We went back the next morning to take Josiah for a look through the house, and it still felt just as right as the day before! Not even the hindu prayer shrine could put us off! I thought it'd be cool if when we got home an agent rung to say he had people wanting to come through and it sold straight away! Cool. But not quite reality.

So we fly home & within 30 mins of turning my cellphone on back in NZ, it rings. Yes, an agent. Yes, this is still a true story! After 5 months of nothing (we didn’t even bother telling them we’d be away cos they weren’t bringing people through!) They wanted to bring someone through right then and there! They’d had a look at the outside & were busting to look through! We arranged for them to come 2 days later and they loved it!! Only problem – they had a house to sell before they could buy anything. Ok, that wasn’t in my picture of how it should go. Just like ours, their house had also been on the market since the beginning of the year. We kept them in the back of our mind, & wondered if we could do a trade with a cash difference as we were looking to buy a rental property. They were wondering the same thing, but with the price they were wanting that wouldn’t work out. Meantime, we’ve been trying not to have a quiet little panic about needing to raise thousands of dollars in the next few weeks to pay rent in advance. 

So, onto plan B. We started praying that if they were the ones God wanted to buy our home, nothing would get in the way of them buying it, & that he would bring a buyer for their home real quick! One week later our agent calls, “Guess what! Someone’s interested in their house!” Then on the day our family prayed for a sale to be settled for their place that day, the agent rung again saying they’ve just sold! Without making a long but very cool story any longer, they looked through our place again & we now have a deal! LIM report being the only condition. The kids have been praying we’ll sell but not have to be out til after Christmas, & we’ve been saying “No, we need the money for tickets before then!” even though we’d love to be able to just leave from here without needing to have an extra move, but God had that sorted too. Settlement date Jan 14!!! And the deposit (which we didn’t realise we get when it goes unconditional) covers our tickets, Ugandan house rental, & the furniture we’ve commited to buying over there from a family leaving!). Actually, it pretty much covers what we need to pay for to the cent. Gotta love the way God works, he's just so, so awesome!

So, sell house – CHECK!

Now to try and raise our monthly support in the next 8 weeks!