"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."
Psalm 34:8
My husband and I purchased a rental property late summer 2006. The market was good and we purchased this home for "investment/retirement" purposes. We prayed about it and felt really good about our decision. 2007 the market changed for the worst and we wondered "did we really hear God correctly?"
This property has been a continual burden to us. It reminds me greatly of Paul's thorn. This property has really been nothing but a big ole huge thorn in our flesh. We had to put french drains under the crawl space, a new roof, new windows, new paint inside and out, new carpet x2, new bathroom tile, new kitchen floor, new fixtures, new sliding glass doors, repair of the back deck, semi-new HVAC, septic tank repair, new appliances....
We have had 3 sets of renters since 2006 and only this last family has taken care of our home. In the fall of 2010 we arrived to find our renters had vandalized our our property and abandoned it. And when I say vandalized, I mean to the tune of $15,000/$20,000 dollars worth of damage. I quickly learned we did not have the "vandalization" portion on our renters insurance and therefore our insurance would not cover the cost of repairs. Needless to say....we do now!
BUT GOD has been faithful to us. He has always provided the funds that we needed to take care of that home. We have never missed a payment and have paid cash for every repair. Do I wish those funds were in a savings account somewhere, YES. But would we have learned all we have learned through this process, NO. We have come to truly live in the fact that ALL MONEY belongs to God and He can do with it what He chooses.
Over the last year my husband and I have prayed "Circles" around that property. We have physically walked every inch of it and prayed that God would remove it from our plate. We read "The Circle Maker" a year and a half ago and truly began to put that house to continual prayer. We did not know how God was going to do it in the current market. We prepared ourselves to not only lose the $40,000/$50,000 we had personally put into it but also the difference of what we paid and what it would sell for now.
We have literally been on our hands and knees begging God for release. We have spent many nights tucking our kids into bed and ending the prayer with "God, you know we have a rental house and we believe you can release it from our plates. Please remove this burden. We trust you to continue to be the Great Provider."
We listed our rental property again 2 months ago. We had a lot of traffic through it. And then we got the call that the back deck had literally ripped away from the siding with all of the rain during May. We had to take it off of the market and do a $1500.00 repair immediately. God once again provided the finances through a Segway my husband bought for $300.00, cleaned up and flipped for $1500.00. There is a back story to why he even bought a Segway in the first place (maybe that will be another post someday).
The repairs were complete and the house was placed back on the market. May 30, 2013, during labor with our son, my husband was on the phone with our realtor learning of a contract that was coming in on the rental house. Let's just say....God has a way with timing!
For the last month, our realtor has jumped through so many hoops for us and the sell of this property. There have been days we thought it would close and days that we thought it would fall through. Here is what we know
1. The contract is for our asking price (a few thousand over what we owe the bank)
2. The buyer is a cash buyer
3. The buyer did not want an appraisal
4. The buyer did not have a formal inspection (just sent on of his "guys" out)
5. Our renters were willing to break their lease and God provided a new home for them
6. Our realtor charged us no fee for the sell of this home
And so today, Monday July 1, 2013, we close on this property. And we know that GOD answered our Circle of Prayer. We would have chosen closure to this a lot earlier than today but God knows what he is doing. We are THANKFUL for the burden/thorn that He has removed from our plate.
I often read the verses below and think they apply only during times of adversity but God reminded me the other day they apply to times of joy and answer as well. I think it is crazy and unheard of that all six of the things noted above have happened but I will rest in this Word.....
"For my thought are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
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