I’m not sure that anyone’s 2020 went as planned; ours didn’t. We were swept into the frenzy of COVID as we bounced between two locations for a year, all the while trying to figure out the next steps for our family. In early 2021, after much praying, wrestling, and seeking counsel, Ryan and I were unified that the Lord was leading us back to the Flower Mound area. The Lord was so kind and gave me several words and verses that I believed were confirming that he was going to give us a very specific place to dwell in the season, and it steadied my heart when I’d become prone to anxiety. We were also in a time crunch to find a house as the place we were currently living sold (shoutout to my in-laws gorgeous East Texas lake house that was a haven for us for a few months!).
As we began our search for a house to live in, I journaled: “God, please provide a home for our family. I know You know where we would thrive. Lord, please place us where YOU want us.” I desperately desired a place where we could flourish as a family! At the same time I wrote those words, I was also listening to Lauren Chandler speak on Jamie Ivey’s Happy Hour podcast. I had just started Lauren’s Numbers Bible Study a few days before, and she happened to be the featured interviewee that week. I actually don’t ever listen to podcasts while I journal, but with two kids you get creative with short pockets of time!
Lauren referenced Numbers 27 where the daughters of Zelophehad stand before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chiefs and all the congregation and say that they want their inheritance, their land to possess. (longer story of why it was the daughters and not sons etc.) It was like the Lord was confirming that he would give us a specific piece of land, a house, to dwell. As I continued my Numbers study in the following days, God continued to drill it down – even how the tribes were specifically placed by God around the tent of meeting in Numbers 2. This is just one of many examples that God was speaking to us about his future provision.
In the day-to-day events, our friend, Glo, connected us to a realtor, Jen Baker, who was a fantastic resource. The housing market had been crazy for months, and we thought since we were simply looking for a rental house that we would have more luck than buyers on the hunt. We were wrong. After looking at multiple houses, being the first applicants for some, offering to put down more money up front, and pulling out all the tricks we knew, nothing was working out for us.
It seemed that all the circumstances were going against what God had been saying and how he was guiding and leading us, and, in a moment of frustration a few days later, I called my dad for some “fatherly words of wisdom”. He encouraged me by saying, “Bekah, you’ve got about as much skin in the game as I have with seeing God prove his faithfulness and Him do beyond what you can imagine. A lot of times people pray, but they aren’t specific. Why don’t you write down specifically what you want and present them before the Lord?” It completely re-centered my heart and thoughts. I grew up with parents who would pray and see the Lord move in big ways that could only happen by His power and intentionality. I wanted that to happen with our house. I wanted to testify to his care for us and that there would be no question to Ryan or me that this was where we were supposed to be. So, I wrote my list of specifics, and we continued to pray.
A few weeks went by, my patience was being tested and our stress levels continued to build. I remember one Sunday, I was in my feelings and so discouraged, so I decided to workout and listen to worship music. Phil Wickham’s song, Battle Belongs, came on and it broke me out of the funk I was in as I began agreeing with the truth of the lyrics. God had given us this direction and he had a place for us.
The next day, on Ryan’s lunch break, I was looking on our church’s Facebook page and I saw a response to a rental inquiry. A woman had responded to a house post saying that if this person hadn’t found a place yet that she has a rental. My fingers flew across the keyboard as I DM’d the woman saying, “If this person isn’t interested, we are!” I also saw that she and I had a mutual friend, and I absolutely name-dropped that friend in case she needed a character reference for us. ha! I’m so glad I did because that is what really sealed her interest in our family. She replied within 5 minutes that if I wanted to see the house tomorrow, we can get the ball rolling.
I had already planned to head into the Flower Mound area the next day for an interview, so we scheduled the house visit for right after that. My friend, Lindsey, went with me and the kids, and by the time I walked in the door, I was ready to write the deposit check. Within 48 hours of the initial Facebook DM, we had signed the lease and our landlords gave us an amazing rental price – one that is the normal amount, not the inflated amount that is typical for this crazy market right now. I also got the job I interviewed for earlier that day!
What we had been struggling to find for months, God put together in a matter of 24-48 hours. The couple had initially bought the house for their mother to move into, but at the last minute she decided not to move right away. So, the house had closed on Friday, was available to rent on Monday, I saw the house Tuesday, we signed the lease Wednesday, and we moved in the next week (we could’ve moved in that Friday, but it didn’t work schedule-wise).
As far as my specific checklist? It checked almost all the boxes of what I prayed for (we wanted one extra room, but it has actually worked out fine with the amount is has!). It’s 4 minutes from the kids’ school and my work, 7 minutes from our church, 5 minutes from our gym, and smack-dab in the middle of community. We also got blessed in different financial ways the week moving into the house and then found out that an awesome family (hey, Briscoe fam!) lives right across the street from us with similar-aged kids. To top it off, my friend, Katie Miller, went and deep cleaned the house before we moved in just to serve our family!
It’s been fun to put together and decorate this little home, and, even though it’s a rental, I love creating a homey, restful sanctuary for our family and an inviting space for others. But, by far, the best part of it is that God made sure we knew that the latitude and longitude of right where he wanted us in this season is right where he placed us.
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