Short Stories

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Crossing the Red Sea


The Beginning of the Journey

Have you ever felt that you were looking across the Red Sea? The water was overwhelming, the skies were overcast, and yet, God was telling you to march forward. But, where do you cross, and how?

Have you thought, “Now, Lord, are you SURE that this is the direction you want me to go?” And Lord, “If this is the path you have for me to go, then why does are my wheels spinning?”

I would like to share with you what has happened in our lives over the past year and how God has guided us step by step through our Red Sea experience.

After much prayer and consideration we decided in 2006 that we were going to put our home on the market to sell. Most people asked us why we were selling our beautiful home. Actually it was a hard decision. We had built it in 1999.I had drawn up a house plan that seemed “perfect” for our family. We wanted a home that would provide a place of privacy for our children and for ourselves. And, then there was of course the beautiful view of the mountain-top that would dominate our choice of locations. We had built our ranch style home in 1999. Our children were 10 and 14 at the time and they enjoyed having their own bedroom and bathroom and closet and the open area in between was nice for entertaining and relaxing.

In 2001 I was diagnosed with MS. And because of this it was truly a blessing to have a one story house because at times, my body would not cooperate with stairways. We were also blessed to enjoy our home with neighbors and friends and we were able to have Bible studies on Sundays in our home for almost a year. This was truly a treasure.

But now, back to the story….

Jack and I both felt that God wanted us to get out from under our debt and build a smaller house. Jack had been working so hard in construction, building homes and in auto-rebuilding, he needed to slow down! God kept redirecting our thoughts back to selling our home. So….the first step had begun.

Where would we move to? We had always thought about moving down closer to the river, about 5 miles away. We couldn’t afford land on the river, but maybe near the river?

We looked and looked, actually for about a year. There was a piece of property that we liked, a 40 acre spot. But, just as soon as we located it, the sign came down and we knew it had been sold. Ok, Lord, we will keep looking and waiting…..

And, that we did. We traveled the area for several months checking places out, taking the kids along and asking their opinions. Then, one day we went by the property that we had located first, and guess what? There was a For Sale sign up again! So…..we tried to get a hold of the owner. It took a few weeks, but it did work out, and we made them an offer and they accepted it! Then, we knew that God was in the move. The circumstances were too unusual for it not to be God!

Our plans were to move a mobile home on the land and stay in it for a while and slow down, then build a house later and move Mom into the mobile home.

So, the next step was to list our house, and so, in March 2006 we did just that.

And then the Storm hit…..

Dustin was at home by himself when the storm began. The hail came through the windows in the bedroom and damaged our roof on our house and on Jack’s garage, all four back bedrooms widows damaged. The hail totaled Jack’s Silverado and Dustin’s S10 Pickup, plus other damage here and there in the house and yard. Actually there was $25,000 worth of damage. We came home that afternoon in shock at the “white rocks” all over the yard!

Thank the Lord that we had insurance that paid most of it! It was a rough time. People were coming to look at the house and the roofers were putting the roof on and the other workers were replacing the windows, etc. How do you sell a house like that???

Strangely enough, people were still looking, but where was the buyer? We decided to start building the road on our new property. (We had borrowed money to buy the land and build the road, which was due in Feb 2007). We knew of a guy we felt like would do a good job on the road, but, to make a long story short, after 2 months and $10,000….still no road finished.

Now what do we do, Lord?

Our daughter, Amanda was married in May and, looking back it was indeed a blessing to have her home for the wedding plans, etc. So many wonderful memories that the Lord provided, even though “our wishes and prayers” were going the other direction!

In June, we had a huge rain, and it washed out the part of the creek at our new property. We were going to build a house later across the creek. But after the creek rose to 50 ft. wide and 10 ft. deep, the culvert and this part of the road was washed out completely, AND we needed to rework our plans. Another setback!!!

Ok, Lord we give it to you!

After several months and about 100 lookers, we still had no buyer. We ended up spending another Christmas in our house. And once again, looking back, that too was a blessing! It was nice to have our family at home for another special season. Our “extended” contact with the Realtor as well as the bank was up in February, and we decided to put up a For Sale by Owner sign. There were several Realty offices in town we could list with, but which one was the right one? We had no clear direction. Once again, we had to trust the Lord. One day, out of the blue, another Realtor called us and asked if he could show our house to a couple who had seen the sign a few months earlier. He had looked it up on the internet and saw that it was no longer listed and they were wondering if it was still for sale. And, of course it was!

The family came out several times and within a month or so we had a contract! The sale truly happened when we stepped back and turned it over to the Lord and placed it in His hands and put up the For Sale by Owner Sign. After all, our house belonged to the owner and HE sold it. God used a Christian realtor who led a Christian family to us, who had been praying for a home! It was in his timing and in HIS way. Isn’t God good?! Come hail or high water, His Love Continues!

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