Our house that Jesus built! by Matthew Linehan

Proverbs 3:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His Will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

We are going through the painstaking task of house hunting. My wife and I currently live in a town home in the Heights and we are believing to move to Katy where it is a more family friendly environment and the schools are some of the best in the state. We are believing that Jesus will bless us with kids of our own.

Finding a home has many facets to it. First, you must figure out what part of Katy you want to live in. This is difficult because there are so many things to consider. We have made targeting the best school district our #1 priority. Second, you have to look at the location in regard to the drive time of where we have to drive and commute on a weekly basis. We are blessed that we both currently work out of our home but we still have Ministry duties at Lakewood three days a week and other places that we need to be occasionally. Third, we must collaborate and compromise about details of what we are looking for in a home / plot of land. Emily and I came up with a list of absolute “must haves” and then a list of “would like to haves”. We quickly found out that where we wanted to live…we differed on opinion. See Emily is a city girl who loves her cosmopolitan lifestyle. She loves to go shopping, get her hair and nails done, get massages, chiropractor, Pilates, etc. I on the other hand…put me out on a farm with a beautiful peaceful view, give me a pool, lake view and a barn and I am set. So, we both must compromise on things like that.

We found a house that we both liked (actually Emily LOVED) and we made an offer. Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones who made an offer. Their Real Estate Agent told us that the other people wrote a letter to the owner. So, we (well actually my wife) wrote the letter on why they should sell the house to us. It’s funny how God always has a way of bringing things out of us that we really don’t know that we are gifted with. My wife wrote the most heartfelt, real, emotional, sensitive and beautiful letter. She described how she felt when she opened the front door to the home the first time. She told of how she too grew up on a Cul de sac and looked forward to the day when our children could ride their bikes on our street. We believed that there was no way that after the owners read our letter that they couldn’t pick us. So, we submitted everything they asked for and we put it in God’s hands...

They sold the house to someone else.

Well, I’m not going to lie…I think we were both a little disappointed. Here's the thing though. As the scripture says above..."Do not depend on our own understanding!!!"

We know deep in our hearts that God has a bigger, better place handpicked for us, but it still hurt. The thing that touched me the most though was the letter that Emily wrote. I never knew she was such an awesome writer. I believe in my heart that the reason that the letter was so beautiful was because Emily spoke from her heart. She spoke about how she dreamed and imagined our children and how things are going to be. It’s so amazing to hear someone describe your future children and the way you picture things to be. I know she was simply writing what has been on her heart probably all her life. Maybe imagining doing things with our children that she wished she could have done but never did.

I believe that God will find our perfect house for us…we just need to be patient and not compromise. If God puts something on your heart, it’s because He is going to bring it to life. The tough part is realizing that it will come to life on His time frame not ours. All we have to do is keep believing and stick to our plan.  

I think one of the reasons that I wanted to share this story with you is to remind you and myself of where I was 5 years ago...homeless...car less...but most of all hopeless!!! Then Jesus stepped in and saved my life!!!

Thank you, Jesus, for giving us the strength and the faith to remember that you will work all things out for good. We love you Jesus and we trust you! Please give us the strength to believe in your plan! 

Amen