Our God is Faithful

If anyone reading this blog is in a period of doubt about the faithfulness of our God and how much he loves us, I hope this posting will encourage you.   Our God is a God of details.  He is interested in every aspect of our lives and loves us deeply.  He blesses obedience that comes from faith.  I'm not saying that there are not challenges and difficulties that come even when we do step out in faith.  A life lived by faith is not an easy one.  But after this week, I am convinced even more of His faithfulness.  My faith has been deepened and I am convinced of His love and grace.

For those who have followed this blog from the beginning, you will remember how I wrote about Spiritual markers--times on your life when you can look back and see a move of God in your life that was a faith builder.  Well, the events of this week have been a marker.   Yet again, God has, in His grace, demonstrated his faithfulness to me.

Last Saturday, Allen and I went up to Decorah, Iowa to find a place to live, a preschool for Caroline, and to get a feel for the town that we will soon call home.   There is absolutely no doubt that the decision to move our family to Iowa has been a huge leap of faith.  (See the last couple of blogs for details!)  We essentially had 4 days to accomplish these tasks, along with some meetings with various Luther faculty.
Up until this point, we were fairly sure that God had called us to Decorah.  But, there is always this small part of you that wonders, "Are we really making the right decision?"  I had not been to Decorah, yet, so I was really anxious to see the town, and Allen was anxious for me to see it.  He wanted so much for me to like it.

We opted to drive in from Minneapolis/ St. Paul, and once we were about an hour outside of Decorah, the landscape became absolutely beautiful.  It was like the gorgeous valleys of the English countryside.


The town itself is absolutely beautiful.  It will be a place where we can often just sit and marvel at God's creation.  I'm really looking forward to that!



So, on Sunday after we attended church at First Lutheran, we began our house search.   We met with our realtor for the first time.  He is a guy about my age with a lovely young family.  As we began talking with him, we discovered that he and his wife had gone through much the same thing a few years back.  They had moved to Decorah from Chicago.  Allen and I had a very positive experience with him and I believed that God had specifically led us to Mark.   That being said, Sunday was not fun.  We looked at several houses all over the town and even 10 miles outside of town.  We knew the housing market would be different than Texas, but we were a bit discouraged.  Surprisingly, you can get more house for your money here in Texas than there in Iowa.  Any house that we looked at in our price range just wasn't going to work for us in terms of space and layout.  But, even in the midst of a hard day, I had a strong sense of peace.  When doubt began to flood my mind, I chose to trust God.
The one thing we came away with on Sunday was a surety about the neighborhood in which we wanted to live.  The problem is, houses in this area are more expensive.

Monday morning, we looked at two additional homes and became really excited about one in particular.  It was a little small, and at the very top of our price range, but it seemed to be the only choice.  So, at the end of the day, we decided that we would go back on Tuesday, look it over, and make an offer.   In order to buy this house, I was probably going to have to work, and we would have to sacrifice a lot in terms of space  (no guest bedroom, only one bathroom, etc.).  It also wasn't really in the neighborhood we had hoped for, and some painting would be required.

Tuesday morning came and we were ready to move forward.  Mark picked us up and told us that another house had just come on the market that very day within his own firm.  Every week, all the realtors at his firm meet to talk about listings.  One of his colleagues talked about this new listing and Mark said that he reached for the paper with urgency.  It was a house that was in our price range, with more square footage, fully updated, AND in our desired neighborhood.  He drove us by on the way to the other house we were planning to buy and we agreed to see it later that day.  Let me just clarify that if we had been with any other realtor outside of that particular firm, we very likely wouldn't have seen the house in time.  Its possible, but unlikely.  The house had not been publicly announced to other real estate companies in town.

Well, needless to say, as we walked through the house, we knew it was the one.    Let me just list how God provided:  (If you want to see pictures, look on my Facebook Profile page)

1)  It has 4 bedrooms and all are big enough for our current furniture
2)  It even has a play room for the girls
3)  All of the walls were painted exactly like I would want in my own house and the colors the current owners have chosen match our PERFECTLY.  We will not have to paint inside the house at all.
4)  It is move in ready.  No updating needed.  All new appliances.  New electric.
5)  It has new centrail air and heat!  (This is actually kind of rare up there!!!)  The other house we looked at had radiators in all the rooms
6)  It is right in the middle of the neighborhood we desired the most and just a 4 minute walk from a magnificent park for the girls.
7)  We are getting it for a fabulous price that we can afford.  I can still stay home with the girls.

At this point, we had looked at many homes in Decorah--none of which met all of these.  We had resigned ourselves to making some sacrifices and then God amazingly provides us with more than we could have asked or imagined.   We don't deserve such a perfect house--but out of his lovingkindness, He has provided it.  As I look back at the timing, the realtor, and the ordering of events--God's fingerprints are all over it!

I see it as a "confirming" of His call. 

I can now say without a doubt--WITHOUT A DOUBT---that God has called us to Decorah, Iowa.

The visit this week has taught us many things about our future in this little town.  We will be challenged.   We will have to be bold and speak the truth in love.  There will be challenges.  But, God has confirmed His call.  He is our provider--Jehovah Jireh.

So, all this to say:  If you are facing a choice that requires a great amount of faith and sacrifice, take the leap of faith.  It is so worth it.  You will see God work in ways you never dreamed possible.  Trust Him.  He loves his children so much.