November is a time to be thankful.
I’ve seen a lot of people share on Facebook one thing they’re thankful for each day in November.
That’s all good and fine but I’m not doing that.
Why not?
There’s some things I’m thankful for that need to be explained. I want to tell the whole story & that won’t fit in a Facebook status update.
For the last three Thursdays in November, I’m going to do a series called Thankful Thursday. I’ll be sharing some stories of some of the biggest things I’m thankful for.
Thankful Thursday: My Home
My hubby and I got married young. We spent the first several years of our marriage getting up on our feet financially. We couldn’t afford to buy a home when we got married so we rented a cute and affordable duplex. We rented it for 5.5 years!
When we first got married, our plan was to rent for a couple of years, buy a home, and then have some children.
God’s plan was different.
Funny how we make plans and God laughs at them knowing He has something better for us!
A couple of years later, we both got new jobs making a considerable amount more each month so we were finally able to start saving.
We were at a place where we could really start saving for a down payment on a home. I was so excited!
A Growing Need
At the same time, the local church we are apart of was growing with lots of people wanting to know more about Jesus. That meant that we had a good problem–there were a lot of people coming and we were growing out of our current facility.
To do the things God called us to do as a church, we needed a new building.
A much bigger building.
So the church organized a building campaign and the hubby & I prayed about what God wanted us to give.
The Struggle
After praying about it, the hubby and I both knew what we were supposed to give. It was amazing how we both prayed about it separately and God told us the same amount.
But I was struggling.
I went out for a run one morning and prayed while I ran. I was trying to sort it all out with God.
In order to give what God was asking us to give, we would have to give up our “plan” of saving for a down payment. We didn’t have enough money to do both.
We were at a crossroads. Either obey God or do what we wanted.
I clearly remember telling God that if we were going to obey, the only way we’d be able to buy a house is if He did something miraculous.
Scared but willing, we decided to give what God had asked us to give, not sure how it was all going to work out.
Buying a house would have to wait.
God Had Something Better In Mind
Later on down the road we were at a place of accepting that we would have to wait longer than we wanted to buy a home and have children. Although I wasn’t super happy about it, we were okay with it.
Seeing how God provided what the church needed to build the building was pretty exciting. Now that there was more room in the new facility, many people were coming to church and discovering that Jesus is real. Being a small part in making that happen was so fulfilling.
The Shock
One day the hubby and I were spending time with family & I was handed a card.
Inside the card was a check.
The biggest check I had ever received.
We were told to use the money toward a down payment!
That was probably one of the biggest shocks of my life. I thought buying a home at this time was impossible for us & then all of a sudden God made it possible!
Through our family, God had provided the down payment that we had previously given up!
What I Learned
It is always better to follow the Father’s plan in obedience, even if that means giving up something I want.
What do I have that hasn’t been given to me? Every person in my life and every good thing comes from Him. I love the verses below so much because I’ve seen time and time again that He provides everything that I need.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. –James 1:17
Learning the lesson of obedience gave us the opportunity to see God’s crazy good provision. We wouldn’t have seen that had we not obeyed.
What are you thankful for today?
This post linked to Whatever Goes Wednesday and Inspire Me Please