A "REAL" Estate Investment

Today was our entrance into the world of real estate investing. And, almost as quickly as we entered, we exited. Through the course of Greg meeting people at his new job, we found out about a house that was going for auction, that is near the area where we would like to live. So, for the last few months, we have been researching (and protecting) this house. We have shielded this house from scandalous realtors and even got to put up the foreclosure notice (although this is not as glamorous as you might think). Yesterday, we were faced with information that we had not researched. This did not entirely affect what our plans were for today, but it certainly made us a little nervous. We have prayed and researched and prayed and researched and then prayed some more about this. Personally, I think that I knew that we should not go to the auction, but I kept pushing this to the back of my mind, because I thought that getting this house would be the absolute right thing. However, in the course of my prayers, I prayed that God would really slam the door shut if this was not supposed to happen. Well, talk about answered prayers! And, I had 2 of them today - that I know of! I will have to go out of order to tell you about them though. So, back to the slamming door. The minimum bid for this house was $400. When the bidding began, the guy behind me said $400. I quickly responded with $500, and almost before the words left my mouth, some other guy from a group (which I think were from the bank) yelled out $20,000! So, since this was my threshold for what I was going to spend, I knew I was out. But what an immediate answer. We sat through so many bidding wars on other properties that went back and forth in $50 and $100 increments. To have ONLY our property jump immediately from $500 to $20,000 was unheard of. God was definitely in that place (but what place is He not in, really?)

The other answer was really kind of neat. As my mom and I were waiting in the hallway to register, I prayed out loud, but under my breath, that I would meet a nice Christian person that I could talk to. I meant that I could talk to about the auction, but God certainly had other plans. Within minutes, this family came up next to us and were talking amongst themselves. I overheard the mom telling the others (dad, son, grandpa and grandma) that they just needed to pray. Oooooohhhh! My ears perked up! I stepped into the middle of their circle and said, " I think we are going about this thing the same way." We instantly connected and after a few moments of talking the mom decided to go out to the courtyard to pray. I watched her go and decided to follow after her. I sat down next to her, put my arm around her and started to pray. I love how the Spirit works, especially when we are obedient, right? She then told me her whole story and she NEEDED the house they were bidding on in a major way. I told her I would pray for her, and I did, but sadly they did not win the property. I still pray that something will work out for her family. But God provided me with EXACTLY what I prayed for - someone, who is a Christian, that I could talk to.

It was a VERY intense day. I was excited, nervous, terrified and amazed all at the same time. In fact, after mom and I walked out of the hotel, I started shaking. We even had to changed seats and have her drive home because (I think) the adrenaline release was WAY TOO MUCH. I am very much at peace about this situation. It did not turn out the way I had hoped, but I know that this is God's will for us and THAT is right where I want to be. Praise the Lord of all the Earth! Praise His Name Forever! I really did not think this part of the process would be so easy, but praise God, it is!