Come and Listen to a Story...

“Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed,

 A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,

 And then one day he was shooting at some food,

 And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

 … Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.”

 

Well, I may not be called Jed, I’m not poor and definitely not in need of more food… but I have been out hunting and did come up with what might be considered Texas tea!

It all began at the beginning of the month during a meeting with our financial advisor.  Toward the end of our session we began to talk about our house hunting and he suggested that we take a look around the little town of Fuguay-Varina about 40 minutes south of us.  Darrin had originally had his office there before taking over the one in the larger city of Cary.  I think he still lives there.  Anyway, he explained how the area is very nice, has lower housing costs and retains its small town charm, even though it has been seeing some growth due to its proximity to the Research Triangle – Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill -area.

So, on Labor Day weekend I got on the internet and did a search on some of the local real estate sites and found a couple of potential homes in that area that had just been listed.  One of the homes in a rural neighborhood caught my eye so our daughter, Piper and I drove out to take a peek at the outside of the place.  As we motored by the neat looking little three bedroom home sitting on almost ¾ of an acre, we saw the owner standing at the mailbox on the street, so we stopped to chat.  She invited us in to take a peek and we got a guided tour!  We like what we saw and came back the next day with our realtor for a closer inspection.

When I got back into our car parked in the shade on the driveway where I had left Piper who was fast asleep, she stirred and opened her eyes.  I was quite excited about the home and really coveted Piper’s input, so I asked her what she thought and she did the most interesting thing…  She opened her eyes wide, looked up at the house and physically moved her head back and forth while she scanned the home and property and smiled!  Then she put her head down and closed her eyes…  Well… you guessed it!  I took that as a definite sign of agreement, so we made an appointment with our realtor for the next day to formulate an offer on the home.

The bad news came the next morning when our realtor called to inform us that the sellers had accepted another offer even before we could tender ours.  We were disappointed but not necessarily deterred.  We simply handed it over to the Lord and prayed that if it was ours that something would change that would be good for all involved.  For the next few weeks we focused our attention on homes in the greater Raleigh area, although none of them gave us warm fuzzes! 

Then on this last Thursday as our daughter, Piper and I were doing a bit of quick shopping at Target, I received a call from our realtor with the news that the other deal on the Fuguay-Varina house had suddenly fallen through and we had first dibs on the home!  Whoppee!  So we jumped at the opportunity, drove to the realtor’s office on Friday in the heavy rain and put together an offer.  Later that night she called to let us know that they had countered our offer with an amount that was still very pleasing to us…  so we accepted!

On Saturday, after emailing contracts back and forth, we got the “It’s officially yours” notice!  Is God good or what!  The house has everything that we had on our needs list and a lot more!  It is just a few minutes out of town, is in a well maintained and friendly rural neighborhood, has a large fenced yard and our property line goes for another 20 feet into a wooded area beyond the back fence!  To us, this is just another example of God’s “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams” nature! (KJV/The Message)

One of the first scriptures that I ever memorized back in my early Christian days before we were married was Philippians 4:19 where Paul declared that “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (KJV)  I would unequivocally have to say that this verse is just as special and prevalent to me (and to each of you) today as it was over forty years ago… wouldn’t you?

I just wanted to share a testimony of God’s faithfulness in order to bolster your expectations and faith today.  Don’t ever give up on Him… Don’t ever give up on your Spirit anointed dreams and aspirations!  I also encourage you to dream big and never allow your circumstances to put God in a box.   Have a great week.  Stay in tune and focused on His Word, and keep asking yourself… “In What or in Whom am I expecting His exceeding abundantly above today?