Done Deal

Anybody who knows me knows two things about me. I am passionate about prayer and I am passionate about God getting glory for doing the seemingly impossible in answer to prayer. Brenda and I have been blessed to see many answers to prayer over the past eighteen years we have been married. Some large ones and some that might not seem like a big deal to others but were continued reminders to us that God hears and God comes through.

There have been many times when either the answers to prayer did not come or at least they did not come in the timely manner we had hoped they would. We have had to learn the often painful lesson of waiting on God. Days have turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. I can still remember asking the Lord for His will and for things that did not come.

[Luke 18:1] exhorts us to always keep praying and not to lose heart. That is pretty easy to read but much harder to live out. Our faith soars when the answer comes in a timely manner. On the other hand, our faith sinks like the Titanic when the answer to our prayers does not come. Abraham got a first hand lesson in waiting on God for his promised heir in Genesis 16-21. For over two decades he waited and waited. He at times grew impatient and took matters into His own hand like following through with Sarai’s plan to give Hagar (her maid servant) to Abraham for a wife so she could conceive and have a child to be the legitimate heir. Everything went according to plan accept God did not bless it. It was not His will.

Waiting on God is not always a pleasant experience but it is profitable. It builds enduring faith. At times God’s delays give Him more glory such as the death and resurrection of Lazarus. [Jn 11] We may not understand on the front end what the Lord is doing but His glory will be furthered if we wait long enough and trust Him.

We as a family have prayed and prayed waiting on God. I recall the many times the boys and I would sit around the breakfast table discussing verses from the Bible and then taking those verses to God in prayer. We prayed and waited. At times those things we had asked God for seemed so close only to fall through our fingers.

I received a phone call yesterday that once again allowed me to have a front row seat to behold the Faithfulness of God. Our realtor called us and told us we were ready to close on our house. We had been praying for our own home from even before we actually moved to Paradise. We looked at many over our four years there but the door never opened. When we moved to Seminole we knew we had to find a place to live since there was no parsonage. We have lived in the vacant mission house for the past three months but missionaries are coming to live in that house in June.

All of our stuff still remains in storage. We have prayed and prayed. We came to town with less than two thousand dollars in our savings account. We started looking at houses in faith knowing that only God could make that happen. On the first day we looked at close to a dozen houses. Out of all those one of the last ones really stuck out. It was not an extravagant house but that suited us because Brenda and I are not extravagant people. It was way out of our price range and it was only a three bedroom house.

We looked at so many houses they at times began to run together except for the one of 2112 NW Ave B. That is the one house we could never get out of our minds. We prayed for wisdom and then were disappointed to learn that someone else put a contract on that house. As we continued to look we did not find anything. More praying and more waiting ensued. Let me remind you that while we were waiting we were still asking God for His provision to make our getting into a home a reality. It would take a miracle for us even to be able to have money to put down on a home.

Several weeks after we moved to Seminole the first miracle happened. We were given a check by anonymous donors in the amount of $7,800. Hallelujah. We kept praying and waiting and then we received another gift for $500. During this time we found a house we liked with two exceptions. The house did not have a shower or bath in the master bedroom and there was no garage. We looked at that house two different times and were just about ready to make an offer on it when our realtor told us the contract had fallen through on the house we really liked. It was still priced out of our league but I went back by myself to look at it as Brenda was tied up and could not come with me. Each time I walked into that home it felt right. There was peace in my heart. It is located in a great part of town. It was completely updated. The only two set backs were the price and the fact that it was only a three bedroom hosue.

As we were in the middle of praying about what to do a third miracle happened. I have blogged about this miracle in the one titled “Numbers”. A loving couple from the church dropped by one Saturday while I was watching some college football and Brenda was napping. They did not stay long but handed us a card. They told us the Lord had been dealing with them about doing that for a long time. I opened the card and there was a personal check for $5,000 made out to us to help buy a home. I was stunned to say the least. Brenda could not see the card but knew by the look on my face that they had done something extremely sacrificial and had been very generous.

We decided to put feet to our faith and to make an offer on the house we had most liked on NW Ave B. We decided we could close in the formal living room to make a four bedroom house and got a bid on that. We made an offer and the sellers countered offer. We then made another offer and they countered offer again. Brenda and I felt a peace the Lord was giving us the green light and we signed a contract contingent on our getting financing. We signed a contract for $13,000 below what the house appraised for.

God worked and it all went off without a hitch. This is when my realtor called yesterday afternoon and told me we could close the deal yesterday if we had time. We reworked our schedules and signed the papers and closed the deal. It was a day of celebration and a long answered prayer when they handed me the keys and the garage door openers. I thought of all the years we had been praying and waiting on God since we sold our home in Hudson, TX and moved to Paradise where we lived in the parsonage for the next four years.

After school we took the boys to the house. They have been waiting anxiously until we can get moved. We opened the garage door and went into the house. It was the first time Taylor had ever been inside. We all gathered in the empty living room and I told the boys to close their eyes. When they opened them I showed them the keys and told them the house was ours.

They were excited as they looked around. Taylor was taking it all in and was especially pleased when I showed him where his bedroom would be. After everyone had a chance to walk around, including Annabelle, we assembled on the back porch as a family sitting on the patio furniture that was generously left behind for us. By the sellers I asked the boys to remember all those days we had prayed around our breakfast table in faith asking the Lord to bless us with a house. I reminded them of how faithful our God was and that at long last God answered and the house was a done deal. I asked what they thought we ought to do next and Tucker piped up, “We aught to pray and thank God.”

That was exactly what I had in mind. We sat on our new back porch and each one in our family prayed and thanked God for His miracle in providing us a house. We dedicated the house to the Lord to be used for ministry purposes. We prayed in faith for the many deep spiritual conversations that would take place in that home and for all the friends the boys would have over. We asked the Lord for His protection and that the boys would grow fond memories of life in Seminole like they made in our time in Paradise. It was a sweet time as a family to celebrate the goodness of the Lord in the month of November with Thanksgiving just a few weeks away.

Once we get the remodeling done on adding the fourth bedroom we will be set to move in right in time for Christmas. Brenda’s family will be coming to visit and to celebrate Christmas with us. It will be a joyous occasion as we get to share our new home and show the new church and the community we now call home.

As I sit here early this Saturday morning taking it all in what the Lord has done for me and my family I am overwhelmed. I think about how the Lord used some wonderful people in our lives in East Texas to support us and help us minister. I think about the loving people from FBC Paradise and the Paradise community who captured our hearts and prayers even to this day. We will never forget that flock and how they blessed us over and over again and up to the very end were used by God to provide my truck. Though God has moved us our bond with those precious people will endure. My mind now drifts to the loving people from FBC Seminole who have demonstrated their affections and support for my family by not only calling me as their pastor and encouraging us with letters, cards, emails, and kind deeds but who have loved with more than words in being used by the Lord to make this miracle house a reality. It is a done deal. I cannot wait to begin using that home as a place of ministry. Once again God has allowed Benda and I to have the desire of our hearts. [Ps 37:4] We have delighted in Him. He is more than provider of trucks, houses, and so forth. He is our King and we delight in Him more than His gifts.

If you are ever feeling down and your faith is shrinking in the midst of your trials or your waiting on God, I invite you to drive by 2112 NW Ave B in Seminole, TX and notice the house. Stop and remind yourself that the Edwards family prayed for that house for close to four and a half years before they had even heard of FBC Seminole. Look at the black four door truck in the drive way that was prayed for seven months. Let the faithfulness of God sink into your souls. Come and knock on the door if you need to and let us show you around a true miracle house. Let Taylor tell you how the Lord answered his prayer by allowing him to have a room of his own for the first time in his fourteen years of living. Let Brenda walk you through the house testifying of how the Lord has blessed her. Let me take you into the back yard where we entertain and on the back porch where I sit often to read, pray, and meditate. Let me tell you how hard it was to wait and to trust but how God came through. Let us pray with you over your situation and by faith believe with you it too will become a done deal.