God's faithfulness

It's important for me to write this before I know how things are going to turn out ...

Today we are placing an offer on a home. And if the offer is accepted, this will at the same time mark the end of the most painful chapter of our lives, and -- I believe -- the beginning of a new, exciting chapter full of hope and excitement.

But even if the deal falls through, I want to acknowledge how faithful God has been to bring us to this place in our lives. I want the world to know how grateful I am for the hope I have for our future, regardless of how this turns out.

On March 18, 2008 when the flood forced us out of our home, it seemed we had lost everything. The home, certainly. The home we loved for nine years. Our car. Many possessions, etc. But mostly we lost our security that day. We no longer had a place to belong. Our financial future was in serious jeopardy. We had no place to live. No car to drive. No idea how we'd ever have those things again. And for the next 13 months we lived without that security. During that time we nearly lost everything financially. Very few people know just how close it came -- or how hard it really was.

See, prior to the flood we had been a sort of financial nightmare waiting to happen. We had the worst-case scenario: high debt, no savings, and then a disaster. When the flood came, we were in the worst possible situation to deal with it. While up until that point we had been juggling everything OK, that tipped everything over the edge.

With everything that ensued, we learned some really tough lessons. I think God had to teach us some lessons the hard way. But He also rewarded our faithfulness through the trial, and He used what was the most painful situation of our lives to bless us immeasurably.

When the deal was finally done and the county bought out that flood property, we walked away with a MIRACLE. No, it did not come easily ... the 13 months waiting for resolution nearly did us in. However, we walked away with enough money to PAY OFF OUR DEBT and have a down payment on a home much nicer than what we had.

God has taken care of our every need. We have made it to this point and I think we can both say we are stronger now for the lessons we've learned. We are also in the best financial position of our lives. Good enough to be making this offer today -- and for that I give all the glory to God. I just wanted to say that publicly now because it doesn't matter how this deal turns out .... don't get me wrong: I desperately want this to work out. But I believe that God has us in His hands and that we can trust His will to be done in our lives. So we are making this offer with much thankfulness that we are able to make it -- and also must peace that things will work out just as they should.

Thank you to everyone who has been there for us, cared for us, prayed for us, etc. God has used you all more incredibly than you could ever know.