A Lesson Learned, again.

So as is the case with all major events in my life, God has used the process of searching for and finally closing on our land to show me, yet again, that His timing is perfect.

You may remember that back in October, we were literally days away from closing on 8 acres in College Grove. The whole process had been a struggle from the beginning but we just kept pusing through it. All the answers we were getting were the wrong ones, yet we kept pushing through it. Our interest rate on the loan was astronomical yet we kept going. (If you don't know, interest rates on land only loans are almost a whole percentage point higher than home loans.) It was so high that I called someone to see if we could finance the money through them instead of the bank, at a more reasonable rate. Come to find out, they couldn't do it for us at that time. Finally, Rooster and I took stock of all the challenges and we both felt God telling us this was not the place. As much as we hated it, we let that land go.

Not too long after that, we found another place in College Grove that we really liked. This time it was 10 acres and it was going to cost us less than the 8 acres. We got excited and made an offer. A week later, their realtor calls us back to let us know they have decided they aren't going to sell that specific tract of land. SERIOUSLY?!?!?! One good thing did come of this, the realtor for the seller figured out what we were looking for in some land and said he would keep his eyes open. (That meant we had our realtor, the other realtor and Rooster scouring the internet and paper for land.) Surely we could find something, right?

From start to finish, it took us over 2 years to find the land that the Lord had for us. How do we know this is exactly where He wants us, you might ask. That other realtor that I just mentioned, well he called us one Thursday and said, "Hey, I've got a place up for sell that I think fits what you're looking for. It's 17 acres and they've just dropped the price. Y'all should come look at it." Rooster, being Rooster, gets all excited and says, "We'll be there Saturday morning." I, on the hand, think "Whatever...I am sooo over this whole process." So we go, we look, we fall in love, we see our future, we talk, we pray, we laugh, we make an offer and we GET IT. This all took a total of about 5 hours. Nothing in this whole process had happened so flawlessly and naturally.

I specifically remember standing on top of the hill, where we want to put the house, holding Rooster's hand and praying, "Lord, we can see our future here. I can feel that this is where you are going to let us raise a family that we know you are going to provide. Father, we are asking that You reveal Yourself in the decision and if this is where You want us, make it happen and make it easy so that we know it's You. If You don't want us here, then we don't want to be here."

Had we gone through with that place back in October, had my friend been able to help us out on the loan, had we been stubborn, we would have missed out on an incredible opportunity that we never thought we would have. We would have had 8 acres, not 17, an interest rate that would make you sick, not the one that is almost 3 points lower than that one, we would be on a piece of land that we thought we loved but that is nothing compared to what is now ours. It all boils down to this: we wouldn't have been where God wanted us.

Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans of a man's heart but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Thank you Jesus for breaking apart our plans so that we could be apart of Your plan for us. I can't wait to see what else You have in store.