Home for Sale - What kind of house do we look for?

Almost immediately after the contract on our house was signed, we ratcheted up our home search. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. We wanted somewhere to go after August 7!

While the pressure was intense, it was reduced somewhat by the generosity of my youngest sister and her husband. They offered for us to come live with them in the interim. They not only offered, but they almost insisted; they were eager to serve us in this way. They do have a nice-sized home, but anytime you add 5 people into your current home situation, that is a step beyond generous to me.

We continued to search earnestly and this is where my trust, dependence, and ability to listen to God has been tested beyond what I could have thought.

Looking back, I was reminded that this whole process started as a response to God's work in my heart. He wanted us to re-locate. Obviously, we had to sell our home and that now was in process, but where exactly did he want us to go?

Back in May, Amy and I took a trip back to Pensacola, FL where we got married and two of our three kids were born. During that trip, God gave me clarity about what he might be doing in our lives through our home sale. It was so clear that I jotted down about six possible things that I thought he could be up to. Now I wasn't clear if he would accomplish all six things or just one or two, but I did know that whatever God was up to in our lives in regards to our home move, it was at least one of these six things. (Actually he gave me clarity on five and I threw the sixth in there because it was so incredibly important to my wife that knowing how incredibly awesome she is, I didn't doubt that God would want to see that happen too. )

So now, with this list as a backdrop and a certain dollar value in my head, we looked and looked.

We looked some more, and then kept looking.

We were struggling because there were a couple challenges that we were facing.

• The size house we needed for our family (4 bedrooms and a room that could become an office
• The size house we needed to serve others (some additional space that could be used as a guest apartment)
• The price range we needed to stay in.
• A location close to school and church

And while we would find houses that met two of the criteria above, we never found one that met three and four --- no way.

So the looking continued...