Prioritising the House Dream

I think I was driving everyone nuts, in fact I’m sure I was.  I love houses, and the house that we were living in was lovely, but the street was not so lovely, in fact it was pretty awful.  The neighbours regularly tried to break in, flung pooey undies over the fence, and various other bits of rubbish, and hanging the laundry meant listening to a swear fest, and I started putting on weight because it was too dangerous to walk around much between the big dogs that weren’t properly restrained and the creeps that would follow you home.

And you know, I was writing my thankful list, for things that I loved about that home, and the fact that I had somewhere to sleep and live that was a whole lot safer than a lot of people have, but I was longing for somewhere quiet and where I could plant some trees and have some chooks and a cow.  (Although we can't have these at our new place, my husband's business partner has a property where their shed is set up where we can)

So I determined that the next house we lived in would be our own, and not another rental, we were in our fourth house in 3 years of marriage.   I also knew that our money situation was not so brilliant, in fact when we had tried to borrow money at the start of that year to buy a house, we’d been told we lived under the poverty line and no one would ever give us a loan.   So I started researching the cheapest bits of land and the cheapest possible houses, and the amount was still hugely staggering, though half the cost of buying traditional house.  Now I did find some great ideas for houses, and I’ll probably use them one day, and you know what I have a dream of designing really cheap houses and helping people to buy them that otherwise never could, but I think I just went a bit overboard with the whole house thing.

I was obsessing over house designs and where our furniture would fit in the different designs we had made, and whether we would have to buy a different sized kitchen table, I mean seriously, we hadn’t even got enough money to buy land, let alone something to plonk on it. 

Then it was my birthday and my sister who was living with us snuck out the back while I was shopping for pizza supplies for the afternoon party and decorated the whole back pergola, and it was beautiful, but more than that, it was God speaking to me. 

See, that verse, that’s what God said.   Of course God knew that only several weeks later we would decide to move because our guard dog had to leave and that we would be safer off living in a caravan in the back of our church yard, and that was not my idea of a house, and that I would then obsess over houses and when we would get another one, even whilst paying rent at the previous place while waiting for it to be sold, and we couldn’t afford double rent.   Even while we were so thankful we had moved after discovering one day that the neighbours and had broken in and tried to set the rental on fire.

And I’m waiting for God to move, and I’ve laid down my dream of our own house being our next one, not holding it tightly every waking moment, because now we have signed another lease on a six bedroom house, yakes, in another town where my husband is planning to start a business, and we have less money than ever before. 

Don't you love this table my husband just built on the spot?

I’m using my financial intelligence and saving and budgeting, but I’m also asking God for every need and waiting for Him to move us to our own house, and I’m encouraged by a story that a lady told at her Bible Study of God’s miraculous provision for her home.  

And this week I really needed to read Lisa-Jo’s story about her and the rental that she hated and learned to live in with grace and how after a miracle they are owning their own home.   How they thought it had slipped through their fingers but it came back bouncing like a yo-yo, like our 6 bedroom rental, that I knew was just right, and the real estate wasn’t so sure about our payslips and a better offer was in place and then they just decided we were the right tenants.  Wow.  So maybe now this Scripture about the birds of the air and not worrying has finally sunk in, at least a little further, because that's how it happens, layers of Scripture in our lives like layers of rock in the Grand Canyon, building us into the person we are over time.

Thanks Anna for my party and photos

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Are You Using Your Financial Intelligence?

I've been reading a number of books about finances lately, including Rich Dad, Poor Dad and I believe he talks about using your financial intelligence to move figures around in your head to achieve whatever goal it is you are trying achieve.    As such, I’d been going through a season of looking at our budget and trying to figure out how we could put money away so that the next house we lived in would be our own, and you know what it wasn’t really working.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m very careful with our money and how much we spend on everything.

I’ve looked at all sorts of budget courses and there are some great ones out there for people who really need to get grounded in where their finances are coming and going, even if you do have enough. 

The Christians Against Poverty course is a great free course that many local churches around the world offer to teach people how to manage their money, and also help people get out of huge debt if they can’t even afford groceries or are becoming homeless.  I’ve heard countless stories of the people they’ve helped and read the story of how the whole thing got started.

Another amazing course is Dani Johnson’s War Against Debt.  This is a fantastic resource to help you get out of debt, whilst on the same income and then turn your income around.  In fact Dani Johnson has a free 300+ page e-book, First Steps to Wealth, that you should definitely read.

In the natural these are some steps you can take, but sometimes I think we forget that we don’t just live in the natural, but in the supernatural realm as well.   I eventually got so fed up, that I said to God,  I don't have enough financial intelligence so You've going to have to use yours!

He started showing me His provision and I’ve been reading about Joseph and how he rose from slavery to favour and then crashed back down into prison and rose into wealth.   That was not a planned financial strategy.  God made him a success, in fact God called him a success even before all the amazing stuff had happened, while he was still struggling away, and God has favour on all His kids, thank Him for it and start seeing the difference it makes to walk with an awareness of His favour.

“His favour is for LIFE.  Weeping may endure for a night but JOY comes in the morning.”  Psalm 30:5

I’m inspired by stories of God’s miraculous provision, and how God wants to bless us so we can be a blessing to others.  Did you know that many inventors and great business men around the world claim their ideas have come from God?   

In Dani Johnson’s book ‘Grooming the Next Generation for Success’, although she is a millionaire and could easily buy her kids whatever they wanted, she actually tells them to go talk to God first. Before Mum buys a brand new guitar, go talk to God first and ask Him, and wait and see whether one turns up, and it did, because God was raising up one of her children as a worshipper.    Sometimes we do not receive because we do not ask. 

A lady in our church is currently teaching a Bible Study series and has shared a few stories with us lately of God’s provision.  One time when she was getting dressed the thought popped into her mind that she really needed some new underwear, and immediately the phone rang.   A lady in her church had called to say that during her prayer time God had shown her to give $20 for the purpose of buying new underwear.    Another time after having made the calculations that they still had 15 years to pay off on their home loan, our Bible Study teacher went into the bank, only to be told that she was making her last payment on the loan.     Wow.  God’s provision.

A huge part of God’s provision is giving, because when we give it will be given back to us, pressed down and shaken together.    Sometimes our financial intelligence needs to revaluated in the light of God’s financial intelligence, because remember, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

When I finally realised that although I did need to be diligent in how I used and saved our money, but that it didn’t all depend on me, whew, I felt like I could breathe again.

How about you?  What has God shown you about your money?

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