Bigger Than Me (A House Story)

A year ago, we started dreaming farmhouse dreams. It wasn't our intent when we moved into this house a year and a half ago. We thought this house would be long-term. Or, to be honest, I was still struggling to think of any house long-term, as I still had my heart completely set on overseas missions. But if we didn't go overseas, I thought maybe our kids might grow up in this house. So when we renovated it, we did it with that in mind. So this house is everything I love. And yet, it feels right to be selling it.

Because we are so excited as we dream about our next house: a farmhouse. We both grew up on farms, and over time we have realized we are farm kids at heart. We want to be able to have land and a big garden and animals. Sophie is a huge animal lover, and she's already five, so we realized getting a farm sooner rather than later was the best plan.

We planned to sell next spring, but ended up deciding that selling this fall was best, so we worked quickly to finish the renovation work on our current house, listed a few weeks ago, and had an offer in two days! We feel so very thankful for how smooth everything has gone so far and pray it continues to our closing date.

But with a house that is pending, it's hard to not start thinking a lot about that farmhouse. We had decided ahead of time that we would move in with Ben's parents until we found the right farmhouse. We didn't want to rush as this may be a house we live in for many, many years. But we've been checking the market for a couple months just to see what's out there, and there has honestly been nothing that meets what we are looking for. There are two potential houses that we are looking into that may be for sale in the next six months. But at this point, they aren't for sale so they are just dreams and possibilities. I haven't become overly anxious about it, but I realized I was starting to worry about it some. If there has been nothing on the market for months that meets what we are looking for, will we be looking forever? And I really love these two house potentials, but what if neither works out and we have to settle for something that is less great?

The other day I was thinking on all of this, and the Lord spoke to me and reminded me that this is much bigger than me. This is much bigger than just a house. At one point, just a couple of years ago, we planned to move to Papua New Guinea to live in a small house in the middle of the jungle, and we were so excited to do so because we wanted to share the gospel with the people of PNG. And the other night the Lord reminded me that this is no different. Our goal is still the same in many ways. We want to share the gospel with the people around us. For now, the Lord has closed the door for Papua New Guinea. But at the same time, He has opened the door for Warsaw. And so, these are our people. The house that the Lord has planned for us is with a very specific purpose. A purpose of placing us where we will have opportunities to meet and interact with and live among people who need to know the God of the universe. Because whatever house we buy will send us down a path in life that would be very different from a path of buying and living in a different house.

I believe God gives us passions and talents and jobs and interests and tastes for a purpose. My husband has a talent for fixing up homes, we both have an interest in old farmhouses and acreage and farm animals, and we have a home church and job that we are committed to that keep us near the town we currently reside in. And all of those things narrow our house search greatly. And from there, the Lord works in other lives to put the right house on the market at the right time for the right price so that we can be exactly where we are supposed to be at the right time in history. Isn't it all so very incredible and overwhelming when we really think about the way the Lord orchestrates history? It's all so much bigger than I can even comprehend. And so, I am reminding myself of that today. Buying a new house is much bigger than me. God has an agenda that is much more crucial than mine, and He won't delay in carrying it out. And because of that, I can wholly trust that God will provide the perfect house for us at just the right time.

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