As I walked our dog down our gravel driveway I felt the sweetest peace I think I have ever had in my adult life. The trees were beginning to take bloom, and my kid’s laughter filled the beautiful evening sky. In front of me was our new house that will forever be the sweetest reminder of God’s plans.
If you know anything about our story, you may remember that several years ago God asked us to sell our home and move to Nashville. That decision was one of the hardest ones we have had to make. I absolutely loved our old house. I still remember the day Trent and I were house hunting, and I spotted it as we made our way past a lot of trees beside it. The thing that made moving even harder was the second part of what God asked us to do. “I want you to sell your house and move into a rental house.”
I know for some that would not be a big deal, but for my heart at this stage in life, it was a difficult command.
Even though it didn’t make logical sense, we obeyed. We began to look for a rental house and we began getting our old home ready to sell. I often questioned God’s understanding of financial matters. If you know anything about the Nashville housing market, you know it is booming and expensive. We were able to find a rental home, however, we found ourselves paying twice as much each month to live in a home nearly half the size of what we had.
While in the rental house the Master Gardener did a lot of spiritual pruning in my heart. He cut a lot of dead branches off that were not bearing fruit.
The first year went by and we knew in our hearts that we were to renew the lease agreement. As we neared the second year in the house, my husband and I both knew we weren’t to stay there. We both felt we were to buy a home, however, by this point, we had used a lot of our savings to pay for the rental house. We had no equity in a home, and there was no way we were going to get a mortgage since we had no full-time income and were living on savings.
By this point, I was completely convinced that God doesn’t understand financial matters!
However, what I didn’t understand was God’s provision and resources.
Through a miraculous set of circumstances, which I don’t have time to go into now, God lead us to the most amazing home that exceeded all of our needs and desires. Without even asking, we had someone come to us and offer to help us get the home. What is even more amazing is that we were given the money for a down payment!
As the process began to unfold, I realized that the money we received as the down payment was the same amount we had paid in rent the past two years! As I sat there with the calculator figuring it all up I became emotional. I felt we had been throwing money away for the past two years. Had we have used man’s way of thinking, we would have never rented. But God doesn’t always follow man’s logic. He cared more about pruning my heart and about my understanding of His Lordship over my life than He did about the money! He provided in one day what I thought took two years to lose!
Now every time I pull up to our home and drive down the gravel driveway, I feel the overwhelming sense of God’s love. He cares, He pursues, He has unlimited resources, He is not bound by man’s rules, He is better than any financial planner, and He is the best story writer.
The house we sold, while amazing in its own way, was the house we “built.” It was built by our own hard work, our own pride, and our own abilities. The house we now own is a gift from God. A place that daily reminds our family that God is good, His peace is sweet, His ways are a mystery, and His love for us in amazing.
Edie C says
What an amazing testimony! God gives us the best gifts!
Kim@kimborders.com says
Thank you sweet friend! YES HE DOES!
Ricki Elks says
What an exciting awareness of His provision!
Kim@kimborders.com says
He continues to amaze us in new ways we have never experienced before!
Gabrielle says
Thank you for sharing! This was such a good reminder that our God cares. 🙂
Kim@kimborders.com says
Awe thank you Gabrielle! Thank you for taking the time to read it! Hope you are doing well!!
Effie Franks says
LOVE
God has gifts that we cannot even think to ask for. He delights in giving us good gifts.
Kim@kimborders.com says
That is so true! I often think my understanding of who God is and His nature are so short sided! HE is so good to His children!
Lisa says
What an awesome story to all of us how God provides- how his timing is perfect – how he takes us on a journey to get us where we need to be! Thanks for sharing! I miss you guys so much and think of you often!
Kim@kimborders.com says
Thank you Lisa!! Thank you for taking the time to read it, to encourage me, and thank you for your love! I miss you too, especially now that I have a teenager in the house! I need to pull your book back out and read it again!!
Elaine says
Such a sweet story, Kim. I needed to read that today. It’s wonderful how He sometimes lets us see the “why” after we walk through a difficult place. Thank you for sharing your story to build others’ faith. We really miss your seeet family.
Kim@kimborders.com says
We miss you guys too!! I would love a chat sometime to see what is going on with you all! Thank you for the encouraging words!
Elaine says
*SWEET* Family.🙃
Sheila Fitzgerald says
The Lord is so amazing and His provisions are beyond our plans. So very happy for you and the family, thank you for sharing a God story.