5 years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. A nightmare that eventually came true, but turned out to be a major blessing instead of a nightmare.
How did a nightmare turn into a blessing? Good question. I believe it only turned out that way because we were obedient to God’s calling!
It all started in the Summer of 2010
We came across a book called Walking with God by John Eldredge and it completely changed our prayer life. Between this book and scripture, we saw how God really wants us to pray. Instead of stating to God our plans and asking him to bless them or close the door, we started asking God what all he had planned and how to follow them. Once we started doing this, our life literally turned upside down and it has been an amazing ride.
December 2010
I woke up in the middle of the night convinced my husband didn’t have a job. It felt so real. My husband had to calm me down and convince me that he indeed had a job and nothing was on the horizon that he could see that would indicate otherwise.
January 2011
My husband came to me and said through prayer, he believed God wanted us to sell our house, get out of debt, and buy some land. It would be an understatement to say I was shocked by this. I was 5 months pregnant, we lived in the house we brought all our children home to and once we purchased this house, I did not plan on moving….obviously, my plan, not God’s.
Ironically, for the previous 2 years God had been working on me in the area of submission. I wish I could say that I immediately agreed to submit to God’s plan but that didn’t happen. I actually fought it! I tried to convince my husband that God just wanted us to get our financial house in order instead of actually selling the house. Thankfully, my husband wasn’t convinced.
June 2011
I called my husband at work and let him know that a real estate agent would be coming that Friday to look at the house. Needless to say, he was shocked and this was our conversation:
My husband: “Why?”
Me:”You told me God told us to sell the house, right!?!
My husband: “Yes, but I never thought you would agree to it.”
Me: “I know. I’m sorry. She is coming on Friday.”
JULY 2011
With a 3 month old, a 2 year old & a 3 year old, our house officially went on the market on July 15. Within a week, we had a cash offer. with a stipulation…they wanted our dining room table and my clock collection.
I felt like someone punched me below the belt. First, I lose my house and now I’m supposed to give up the only thing I collect?!?
This first real big test of listening to God was an eye opening experience. We prayed about this cash offer and what we heard was not “yes” or “no” but “It doesn’t matter.” We truly didn’t understand what that meant until months later.
At the time, I came to terms with the fact that it truly didn’t matter. These were just things. Physical. God was calling us and even though I didn’t want to loose my stuff, I figured he had a good reason, if for nothing else to teach me to put Him first, so we agreed to the offer and then I cried. I never dreamed I could be so attached to stuff. It was heartbreaking from that realization alone, but I was thankful for God to help me realize it.
October 2011
Month after month went by and we kept getting excuses as to why the closing had to be pushed back. Then finally we learned that the couple did not actually have the cash in hand. They were waiting for a pay out they had not yet received.
It Didn’t Matter! God was so right that “It doesn’t matter,” because in the end that couple didn’t end up purchasing the house. Once the house was back on the market, we received another offer. This time they only wanted the house.
December 15, 2011
4 years ago today, we signed the paperwork and handed the keys to the house over to a wonderful couple. We were excited to see where God would lead us but truly had no idea where or when this would take place.
We did know that with less money tied up in a big house, we could pay off the debts we had been trying to pay off much faster.
Summer & Fall of 2012
During the summer of 2012, using the Total Money Makeover plan, we paid off all our remaining debt, saved up 6 months of income (thanks to my husband’s bonuses), paid cash for a celebratory trip to Disney world & then did our debt free scream on the Dave Ramsey show.
By this time, God decided to challenge us in other areas of our lives too like where we were attending worship. We had never prayed about it and once we did, we realized, He again had a different plan than we did. Get all the amazing details to this story here.
Fast forward a few years to 2015 – present
We now have four kids instead of three and we are officially land owners. We were able to purchase a piece of property that not only answered our prayers but also matched our pocketbook! The amazing part is we found the land in January, 4 years after my husband listened to God’s calling to sell our house, pay off debt and buy land!
Then after changing companies due to divisions being sold or companies being acquired, my husband found himself without a position. It was the biggest blessing that could have happened.
If it hadn’t of been for the Holy Spirit urging us to sell our house almost 5 years ago, we would have been stuck in a nightmare situation with a big house payment and barely anything in savings. My husband would have been forced to take the first job that came along just to make the house payments or we would have had to sell the house and lots of stress would have been felt from many different angles. It would have been a nightmare situation instead of a blessing.
As it is, my husband has been able to care for his grandparents, who had some serious issues pop up this summer, find them the proper care they needed and take his time in finding a position that suited him best, one where he can glorify God most and use the talents God has given him to benefit the company too. We are still actively waiting on where God will place him but trust in His timing.
Throughout this past 5 years our faith and trust in God has grown tremendously. We have learned to rely on His plans and not on our own. I’ve learned to submit to my husband and my God (the majority of the time) and because of our obedience we see his blessings in our life that we didn’t dream of 5 years ago.
Psalm 145 is what my heart has clung to during all these years:
The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
All your works praise you, LORD;
your faithful people extol you.
They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all the people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
Psalm 145:9-13 (NIV)
How have you experienced God’s blessings because of your obedience?
Has he ever used something you feared to bring you closer to him in a glorious way?
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
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Wow what an amazing story! God really shows up in our time of need! I pray I could have made the decisions you did and be obedient to such a major life change. He is always faithful I just have to learn to trust Him more! Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story and I’m glad you got to keep your clocks!
Ha! Ha! Keeping my clocks is such a silly thing but it felt like God was saying since you were willing to give them up for me, I’ll let you have them back.
It took me a while to get to the obedience part, but I am thankful to have gotten there. May you be blessed in the opportunities God opens before you, Mikki.
Great story of Gods blessings…and an example of how He always sees the bigger picture, even when we are sure we should have something different!
He does see the bigger picture, for sure! I think that is my favorite thing about praying. I realize he can see all the puzzle pieces when I can only see a handful.
This is such an awesome story!! Sometimes I really don’t get why God has us do the things He has us do.. but He knows best! This story is total testament to that.
Amen to that! He knows best and we won’t always understand the why but he doesn’t call us to that. He simply calls us to obedience.
I LOVE this testimony! I was recently blessed with the book Just Show Up by Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn and it has changed the way I have been praying. While I tell God what I want, or think I want, I have always been saying these past few days, “Not my will Lord but Yours.” And things have been changing. Things I have been praying for for a long time. I don’t have everything, but things are changing slow, small changes. The funny thing to me is, over the summer I found a town in Missouri that I… Read more »
Thank you so much! God is great and above all he is patient as we lean into listen to Him! I wonder if He is encouraging you to get over your fear of tornadoes by bringing them up to you so that you can face your fear about them. I’ve lived in a tornado state since I was young. Of all the natural disasters, I’ve always thought we had it best because at least we can hide from them. God bless you on your praying journey and as you understand where God is leading you.
i’m sometimes amazed how God works out things for our good
God is amazing. It amazes me too how he works things together.
A great story – testimony to God’s grace when we are obedient…even when things seem crazy or unlikely! God is good!
May God be glorified through it all! He knows the plans he has for us and I pray we all have the courage to trust him and his plans!
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