When we lived in Colorado several years ago, our house had about 900 square feet. It was a nice little house and it was just fine. But as our family grew, and when we had company it got a bit crowded.
When we were making plans to move back to Nebraska, we were really hoping to find a house that was a bit bigger…mainly because we love to have company and wanted to be able to do that without having guests step on each other. Even a house twice as big as our Colorado house would have seemed big to us.
Out of the blue, a friend of ours called. Said he’d heard we were moving back to York. And did we know that he and his family were moving away from York? And that they had a house for sale?
Yes, we did know that they had a house for sale and had seen in the realtor’s book that it was HUGE…and that it was out of our price range.
Never mind that, he told us. He and his wife wanted US to have their house. He said with all the people we always had in and out of our house, it would be perfect for us. He told us we needed this house.
And then, without knowing what our price range was, he quoted us a figure that was EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR.
Wow. It would seem that God wanted us to have this house.
And so we agreed to buy it…site unseen. (Because we’re either crazy or we have a lot of faith…or maybe a little of both.)
The first few hours after we arrived and toured the house …I kid you not…I was dancing around like a little kid in a toy store.
This house has over 3000 square feet of living space, plus a full (unfinished and yucky) basement for storage. There are six bedrooms. And…if you haven’t already…check out my wonderful kitchen. There was a lot of jumping up and down going on when I first saw my kitchen. Good thing I didn’t hurt myself. I don’t have a clue how to dance.
We have a “game room” for our toys and TV…great for bunches of kids to hang out. Our living room is huge…plenty of room for lots of people.
We really only use two of our bedrooms for our family. Our boys all prefer to sleep in the same room together. That leaves plenty of extra rooms for guests. We’ve been able to let people live with us temporarily…we have no problem saying yes to anyone driving through for the night. We LOVE having guests!
That being said, does this house have issues? Absolutely. It’s over a hundred years old. It is “full of character” which is our nice way of saying, “oh my word could Matt’s Honey Do List be any longer?”. There are a million things to fix and there always will be (because as soon as one thing gets fixed, something else decides it needs to fall apart).
Therefore, I often have to remind myself what a blessing our big old house is. With all of it’s goofy plumbing issues and cracked walls and yadda, yadda…I sometimes forget that God hand-picked this house for our family so that we could serve Him with it.
Lately, I’ve been very strongly reminded about what a blessing our home is. For the past three months, there has hardly been a day that has gone by that we have not had guests. This house has been “grand central station” for college kids, over-night house guests, temporary live-ins, game nights and play dates with our boys’ friends. We’ve gone through more groceries (and toilet paper) than ever before.
Last night at Small Group…there were 23 children and 16 adults. It was loud…it was crazy…it was amazing.
Forgive me for this very long post…but today I am in complete awe of this gift God has given us.
Thank you God for my wonderful, huge house that you’ve given us to use for you. (And forgive me for the times I complain about how much house there is to keep clean!)
—————————————————-
What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Please share!!! God is so good! Write your own Gratituesday post and come link up with us here. Or, if you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
It Feels Like Chaos says
What a sweet blessing and so great that you use it to serve others!
Shelle says
oh your house sounds wonderful…and it’s story it truly awesome….we’re still in our 1240 and waiting….not that I care for the big house…but I just want to be able to have friends & family visit.
Fifth Street Mama says
Now that is a blessing i would love to have! Wow! How wonderful!
Hannah says
That is such a blessing!
Lori Waugh @ Shine Like Stars (Handprint/Footprint Christmas Canvases says
A wonderful blessing! God’s gift to you being used for His glory. Thanks for the post.
Amy Lynne says
I love our big house for the same reason! It is so nice to be able to have guests over and not be squished! Your house sounds amazing!
Sarah says
I’m also soooo thankful for my big house! When we were looking for our house we couldn’t find anything in our price range that was big enough for our family. Our realtor told us we’d probably have to change our expectations and plan on having to move again in a few years to accomodate our growing family. Instead we decided to go up to the next price range and find the right house and we sure did! God blessed us not just with everything we were looking for in a house but also a few perks and we were able to negotiate it into our price range! God is so good!
supreme says
What an amazing gift/ blessing! We don’t have a large house compared to yours but I knew it was going to be home the second I walked into it when we were house shopping.
Thank you for reminding me to appreciate “home” no matter how many items on the “Honey Do List go unfinished.
Meghan says
What an amazing story!
Kimberlee says
I have to say that I was grateful you had a big house on Sunday evening, too. The group just kept getting bigger and bigger and the kids still had room to run and play. Thanks for your hospitality!
Debbie says
Just found your site through The Fifth Street Mama, thought I would join in on the fun.
You have a wonderful gift from God.
Sherry says
Wow! What a huge blessing! It is amazing what God does for us and how He provides for His children! :D Praise God for how you are using it to honor Him! :D
Jenn @ Beautiful Calling says
Wow. Your story is amazing as is your pantry (which I just watched now :))
And thank you for the reminder to be thankful. We have been blessed with a larger home as well and sometimes I don’t always have the attitude that I should when I find myself struggling to keep it clean! LOL. With a 1 yo and a 2yo, my idea of clean is somewhat different that it used ot be though. That helps.
Happy Tuesday!
Janelle @ The Smudge Curve says
I grew up in a house about that size, and now that I’m the one in charge of cleaning our home I couldn’t imagine living in it again! Perhaps my mind will change if the Lord blesses us with more kiddos. ;-)
It’s so neat to see how God provides for our needs. It sounds like you have put that house to good use by serving Him and others. :-)