Australia
Seeing God at work in the ordinary things of life
Our experience of leaving our home in South Africa in 1997 to relocate to Australia held many challenges. One of them was selling our house. It was during this time that we saw God at work for us, in a wonderful way!
Moving house is never easy. And leaving one’s home to go to new country is not for the faint hearted. The house went on the market, and we received an offer. The offer, however, fell through and so we started looking for another buyer. Time was marching on, and it got closer and closer to our departure date, and we had no one to buy our house. We were getting panicky. Our other option was to rent the house out, but to rent and be far away from your property is never a good idea, so we were hesitant to go down that path.
Finally, the departure date had been set. We were getting on to the plane to go to Australia on a Wednesday. The week before our departure, the removalists came to pack up all our goods. There were boxes everywhere, dust, packing tape and paper- it was a mess. The Friday afternoon before we were to leave, someone came to our gate. It was a lady with a bandage around her knee. She said she had visited the doctor for her sore knee, and he had told her that our house was for sale. He was a colleague of my husband’s, and they lived not far from where we lived. She wanted to see the house, but the house was not in a great state! I agreed she could have a look through the house, but did not hold out much hope that this would be the answer to our prayers. She hobbled through the house with her bandaged knee, walked around the property, and left. Well, I thought, that is the end of that.
But, to my surprise, we had a call from this lady over the weekend. She said, “I want to make you an offer on your house”! It turned out to be a very reasonable offer and a cash offer at that. We were delighted! On our way to the airport, the next Wednesday, we signed the papers to exchange ownership and received our money into our bank account. In our minds, this was a miracle. It could not have happened without God’s intervention. We were desperate, but he supplied our need. This experience remains one that strengthens our faith!
Deanna
United States of America
This past spring, we had to sell our house in order to help pay down some debt. It was definitely a seller’s market, so the easy part was selling our house – which happened very quickly; within two weeks. Now we had to find a home to buy that was in our price range and location that we needed to be. We had limited time and nothing was looking good at all. Homes were overpriced, but also selling within a few hours of being listed. So, we went to the location where we felt God was leading us and where we wanted to be and we did a prayer walk around the lake in that neighborhood. Nothing was for sale at the time.
Our agent actually began calling people in the neighborhood to see if they were willing to sell. And within 1-2 weeks, he found a Christian family who had scripture written in the foundation and drywall throughout the house which they had built 4 ½ years prior. They ended up selling us their house for a fair price after we met them. And they weren’t planning on moving until much later. So this was definitely a God moment! He made the impossible possible.
United States of America
Born Kenyatta Sirena Lowe 11-20-1991. My mom wanted to name me Spring. My mother was a single parent. Who came from a single parent. She raised four kids on her own, with little help. I witnessed what God could do at a young age. We always had what we needed. Living in government housing always felt like an abundance. My mother’s mentality was “greater.” Before I started my 5th-grade year, my mom bought a house in Pooler, GA, on her own. I remember her ranting for years before how she’d buy this house and celebrate by playing Jesse Powell’s song “You” loud on her stereo. In the kitchen of this house, she also married my bonus dad.
In 2008, February 7th, the Imperial Sugar explosion would take her life and take her from us. She suffered four weeks in the Augusta burn unit before succumbing to her injuries. My mother worked 12-16 hours faithfully, and the value of her life was determined by white-collared white men who did not know her.
I would suffer with healing for ten years. In 2013, I married and had my first child in 2015. I filed for divorce in 2016 after I had enough of the abuse. I was pregnant with my second child. Now a mother of one daughter and son, we struggled with stability for one year before moving in with family in October 2017. From 2018-2019, I would work warehouse jobs, barely making ends meet for my kids until finally declaring to God that I’d had enough.
In January 2019, I received a full-time job, and on April 15th, 2020, on my daughter’s 5th birthday, I purchased my second home. I had no money saved because I couldn’t afford to save, but God covered all expenses. I had no money for closing, but I received money back. After a year of being in our home, I had started two businesses while working full-time, and I felt a tug in my heart that led me to leap. I thought of my mother and knew God had called me for more. He wanted more for my family. On June 17th, 2021, I quit my 9-5 to be a full-time business owner. God said it. Jeremiah 29:11
United States of America
I lived in Savannah, GA, 40 years ago, and loved it. My daughter was born there at 24 weeks old, and we lost her twin brother. She is a miracle and shouldn’t have survived (she was 1 lbs. 7 oz. at birth). She is a miracle in and of herself.
We’ve always wanted to come back, but my husband and I have both been self-employed, and it’s never easy to restart a business in a new place. Even though I’m from the north east, it’s frankly never felt like home. Over the last few years, with the changing political climate and a loss of moral compass, it felt less and less like home. Well, on a trip to the Outer Banks in May 2020, I suddenly realized that we probably had the chance if I acted fast to make a move back to Savannah. As a result of Covid a lot of my work had become remote. It was now legal for me to treat my patients on Zoom from anywhere. We put our house on the market that summer and, after a few twists and turns, sold it for quite a bit more than we paid. We knew that if we waited at all to take action, market conditions might change for the worst and they did. This was God speaking to us I know.
We came to Savannah to buy here and homes were selling right out from under us. We weren’t really considering Rincon at all as we wanted it to be somewhere in Savannah proper but anytime we made an offer on something it sold out from under us.
My husband and I were having dinner at a downtown restaurant. A text came in from our broker with a photo of a house in Rincon. We looked at it and immediately knew it was home even before seeing it. Our offer was immediately accepted. The move itself presented many challenges. But we are exactly where God wanted us to be. We love the neighborhood and the wonderful folks. We met and our next-door neighbors introduced us to Compassion. We love it and feel so blessed most importantly, my husband due to his unfortunate exposure to church as a child hadn’t been to church in about 50 years. Now he’s is the first one out the door for church and we both love it. We know it’s all God’s hand.
United States of America
Miracle House Story
After searching for 10 months for a home, God made the impossible possible. The housing market was treacherous. There was limited availability, the prices were extremely high, and they were sold quickly. I put an offer on a house I loved with a higher offering price, but it fell through because another bidder outbid me. My sister-in-law told me about a house that was vacant near them. I reached out to the owners, but they weren’t ready to sell.
A few months later, another house on the same street that the first house I put an offer on came available. I didn’t like it as much, but I liked the area and the house had potential, so I put an offer on the house. Unfortunately, someone else got the house because they could close sooner than I could. I was so discouraged because I had to live with a few different families because I didn’t have a place to call home. I dreamed of living near my nephews and raising my kids with them. I don’t have children yet, but that’s another prayer of mine.
I reached back out to the family who had the vacant house near my brother because I still had hope. My realtor felt it may be a waste of time, but I didn’t want to give up on my dream of living near my nephews. After reaching back out to them, which was about nine months since I talked to them, they finally were open to sell “as is”. I didn’t think that I could afford the home because of its being in a beautiful neighborhood and the price range. Thankfully, after a couple of weeks, I was able to go see the home. I gave them an offer without it being put on the market, which would have definitely increased the price, and they accepted it.
I was so thankful, and I was able to see God’s hand in the whole process. Through all the doubt, pain, tears, and fears…God showed his hand in this and blessed me measurably more than I ever dreamed. Thank You, Lord!!
Steph
