SOLD!

I have often imagined and day dreamed about what that phone call might be like when we hear these words..."There is an offer on your house." Nearly 21 months after placing our house on the market, we received our first and final offer today!
Since the beginning of January, we have asked the Lord to lead us into this New Year. We specifically asked him to sell our house in Fairmont and help us find one in Fargo. For a long time, we thought that it was all just happen and we would wait on the Lord. However, we began sensing that something needed to change and maybe we needed to actually take a step out in faith, trusting God as we proceeded forward.
We gave up the idea that we were going to make any money on our house in Fairmont. The next step then was to lower the house to a price where we would just be able to walk away taking nothing with us. Given the state of the economy, its really the best we could do. The dreaded "foreclosure" word is everywhere and definetly a reality in some cases, but Troy and I both felt that we needed to be good stewards of what God has given us and avoid this at all cost. We then began discussing creative and different ways of financing a new home and starting over again in real estate. God provided for us financially and gave us an awesome lender who really worked well with us.
As we took steps forward, we asked God to place road blocks in the way if this wasn't from Him. We found a house in the neighborhood we wanted, in the school system we liked and in the price range we could afford. When I walked into the house I immediatly knew that we could live there and make it ours. The sellers came down to a price we were very comfortable with and we sensed God's approval. He even blessed us with a house warming gift in this process! We saw that God was opening doors (literally) rather than putting up road blocks.
When our Fairmont house didn't sell in January, we began to ask God to sell our house by the closing date of our new house which is February 23rd. It's been a daily struggle to keep our eyes on Him and not worry about the future. The notion of paying two morgages on one income was certainly overwhelming to both of us. Especially to the main bread winner of the family :)
We have asked our family and close friends to really pray that God would intervene and sell this house. Even this week on Thursday, I received a text message from a good friend who said she was on her knees asking God to sell the house. She gave me Psalm 37 as a reference. Here are a few keys verses that really spoke to my heart:
" Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."
We commited this to the Lord beginning in January. Troy and I began seeking God's will for us here in Fargo by uniting together in prayer and focusing on the One who could deliver. He is mighty to save!! We are in awe of how He is at work.
The double blessing is that our kids see how to commit something in prayer to Him and then how to listen for His direction. Over the past year and a half, we have asked God for help in this move to Fargo, asked Him for healing, and asked Him to protect us. If we teach our kids anything, its that we trust God when the answer is "no" and we trust Him when He gives us our hearts desire. I don't ever want to forget the look on sweet Hannah's face today when she said "He answered us!" Yes, He did Hannah! He is good, all the time.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. There has been a time to weep and now it is a time to rejoice. Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning. We are full of joy. Thank you Lord!