For most of my adult life (I am about to turn 39) I have longed to own a house and land. A house that wasn't prefabricated; a house that when in need of regular maintenance we could go to the local hardware store and repair it; a house where I didn't have to flee for my life and my babies live's in the pitch black Alabama night for fear of an impending tornado, and on and on and on the list could go as to why I deeply desire a 'site-built' house. The reasons for wanting land is just as long. We've been maxed out with our homesteading capabilities for many years now. Our space is limited. Furthering our animal husbandry isn't even an option. We do the best we can with what we've got AND we're grateful. But I know we could do so much more if given the opportunity.
Well, sometimes when you beg and plead with God unrelentingly for years, He gives you the desires of your heart despite it NOT being His will. The week of Thanksgiving 2017 we put in an offer on a massive 5,000 square foot 'fixer-upper' with 5 acres. We thought our dreams were finally coming true. Our patience and persistence had paid off, this was it, our homestead and final earthly resting place was finally ours! No more praying for land and a 'site-built' house. No more living in fear of tornadoes ~ this house was made of rock, brick, AND had a basement! The 5 acres was perfect for small animal husbandry and any large gardening we wanted to do. It was perfect, or so we thought.
Ecstatic, thrilled, over-the moon, elated, happy; those words don't even begin to describe the joy of finally finding our dream home and moving in. Sadly those emotions were short lived. All that could go wrong, went wrong. Within a few short months we wiped out our life savings and were in financial dire straights. What we thought was God's perfect will and design for our family was quickly replaced with the acute knowledge that we had made a HUGE mistake. The house which we thought was only in need of simple cosmetic fixes ultimately needed to be completely redone from electrical to plumbing and everything in between.
As first-time 'site-built' buyers we received a crude education on the harsh reality of buying a house in the American real estate industry. It's cruel people. It's hardly ethically and realtors will do anything to sell a piece of property. We were lied to and conned in the worst way. We learned valuable lessons on buying and selling houses that most people learn at a much younger age. We thought we had done everything right. We were God-fearing, honest christian folks simply trying to better ourselves and the future of our family. Well, apparently that agenda isn't the norm in this particular industry and any form of accountability is non existent.
Thankfully the Lord delivered us from our horrific house-buying nightmare within one year.
Since we were unable to sell our payed-for mobile home when we bought the big house, we were able to moved back into it after the sell of our house. (Thank God for unanswered prayers!) I won't lie; I was crushed and heartbroken beyond words. Why did this happen to us? Why? Sometimes there are no answers, it's just life. And life often includes set-backs and re-starts. Thankfully God promises he will never leave us or forsake us. Yes the journey can be painful and riddled with hurts that only God can heal, but God's mercies are ever real and present we just have to keep our eyes on the Cross, trusting that even when we make those 'wrong turns' He will always gently guide us back into His loving arms and perfect will.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)
If there's one thing I have learned through this whole house-buying experience; it's when you don't know what to do or where to go; go back to what you DO know, what's familiar and the last place you knew you were exactly where God wanted you to be. It's been four months since we moved back into our mobile home and I'm finally finding myself at peace with where God has us. I'm not convinced this is our final earthly resting place and I'm still hopeful one day we will have our 'site-built' house on some land. Will it ever really happen ~ only the Lord knows, but I won't give up praying for it, planning for it, believing one day the desires of my heart will be God's will too. But until that day arrives here we are back where we started 20 years ago ~ happily homesteading our little one acre.
With Love & Hope,
Jennifer
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