A really late response to last weeks Five minute Friday.....
I am Indian , living in the Netherlands and grew up in Kuwait. 3 countries in one sentence and thats as confusing for me , as it can ever be. So, when people ask me where is home, I say The Netherlands. Thast were we are now and thats were I began my married, family life. My kids were born here and this is were I make my own rented home. This is were we raise our boys, build my relationship with my husband, work, and have a wonderful church family and cell group. In all the confusion, I knew for sure the Netherlands was my home. For now.
Since Elijah was born , we have been looking for a house to buy. He is 3 now. The need to own a house wasnt the criteria. I wanted a bigger nicer house. Great kitchen and play/office space on the ground floor. Our current house was great, until 2 boys joined the equation. It still is fine.
We silently made fun of other friends who saw 30 houses before they bought there own. And now we realize we have crossed that number quite a while ago. We visited houses. Disagreed always on which ones we liked. There was always one person who didnt like the house. Thankfully, we didnt include the boys in the desicion making madness. Our budget was low and our wants were on the higher end. It seemed impossible to own a house with the money we had in mind. Or rather what Bobby had in mind. We bid for two house along this journey. Didnt get anywhere with the low figures we were prepared to bid. Bobby was patient. I was impatient. I mocked him for the magic low number he always started with. "We are never ever going to get a house we like for that amount"i traumatized him.
As we celebrated Elijah's 3rd Birthday, I huffed and puffed about never going to have that dream house.
On January 22, 2013, we went to see a house that looked promising. Like many other we saw. I pulled myself together and thought, one more, and thats it. Bobby can go see the others, if any. We saw it, we liked. It required a fair amount of renovation. We went back home. The price was really low, that means it was within our budget. It was the right size we wanted. BIG. So what was the catch?
Long story short,The house was taken by the bank and they were selling it , at almost 100,000 Euro less than the original price. The owners got a divorce and they put it in the market. It wasn't moving, so they gave it for rent , who gave it to someone else, who was growing weed in a professional set up. Finally, the couple couldn't pay, the bank took the house. The weed people were busted. The house was a mess with the insulations ripped out (to take in the smell, so one would detect it), ripping out some plastered walls. It wasn't maintained for 2 years at least and hence a run down look.
But I wasn't sure because of the weed thing and of course its going to take some money to renovate and bring it back to its original glory. We went with our real estate agent to see it again. By the end of the week we put in a bid. Like we did 2 other times. No hope at this point, since Bobby has this number which is always too low to bid. And I give him the silent treatment. The real estate guy bids for us from a low number until our maximum which was 10,000 below the asking price. The carnival holidays come and go and we still havent heard from the bank. Monday morning after holidays, when I was at work, I get a text message from Bobby. "We got it for 225,000 Euros! We have a house. " That magic number of his worked. God gave us a house for Bobby's desired value. It was 20,000 below the asking price! I couldn't comprehend what happened, and it still didn't sink in a week later. How did we get it?
Was God that interested to get a house for us in the right price, and the right house? Was God into giving us material gifts too?
Now all of a sudden, I was feeling was this really from God full heartedly, or was it a response to my whining?
It took a while for me to feel grounded with this gift from God, when I was reading "Radical" by David Plaat. That God gives us material gifts to bless others and most importantly to show His glory and kindness.
We had to quickly apply for the mortgage since my residence permit was expiring on March 1 and we had to have valid permits before applying. As we send the forms on February 28th and the next day, my permit expired, it was another challenge I trusted God to see us through. With this time in the housing market, it wasn't easy to get a mortgage, and anything could happen for it to get rejected. I would only get a sticker in the passport as an alternative, while I waited for my new residence card on the 13th of March. As I went to the immigration office to get this sticker, the lady behind the counter said, that she couldn't give me the sticker. My immediate response was wear burlap and throw ashes on myself and begin mourning. It was only a few seconds later , that she said that my card was already here and she rather give me the card, than a sticker. Okay! burlap out and mourning ended. How quick I was to sinking! And if this itself wasn't enough, the date on my card begins from February 27th . Even though I was technically illegal for the past 13 days, this card says I had continuos permit without a single day without one. I never even prayed for this and never had to two sense to do it.... But my God, even thought of the minute things....
Yesterday, we heard that we got the mortgage. As we sign the documents , on the 2nd of April and get the key, and as we begin the renovation, I only pray that I continue to trust Him in ALL things and know that He has a good plan for me and my family.
I am Indian , living in the Netherlands and grew up in Kuwait. 3 countries in one sentence and thats as confusing for me , as it can ever be. So, when people ask me where is home, I say The Netherlands. Thast were we are now and thats were I began my married, family life. My kids were born here and this is were I make my own rented home. This is were we raise our boys, build my relationship with my husband, work, and have a wonderful church family and cell group. In all the confusion, I knew for sure the Netherlands was my home. For now.
Since Elijah was born , we have been looking for a house to buy. He is 3 now. The need to own a house wasnt the criteria. I wanted a bigger nicer house. Great kitchen and play/office space on the ground floor. Our current house was great, until 2 boys joined the equation. It still is fine.
We silently made fun of other friends who saw 30 houses before they bought there own. And now we realize we have crossed that number quite a while ago. We visited houses. Disagreed always on which ones we liked. There was always one person who didnt like the house. Thankfully, we didnt include the boys in the desicion making madness. Our budget was low and our wants were on the higher end. It seemed impossible to own a house with the money we had in mind. Or rather what Bobby had in mind. We bid for two house along this journey. Didnt get anywhere with the low figures we were prepared to bid. Bobby was patient. I was impatient. I mocked him for the magic low number he always started with. "We are never ever going to get a house we like for that amount"i traumatized him.
As we celebrated Elijah's 3rd Birthday, I huffed and puffed about never going to have that dream house.
On January 22, 2013, we went to see a house that looked promising. Like many other we saw. I pulled myself together and thought, one more, and thats it. Bobby can go see the others, if any. We saw it, we liked. It required a fair amount of renovation. We went back home. The price was really low, that means it was within our budget. It was the right size we wanted. BIG. So what was the catch?
Long story short,The house was taken by the bank and they were selling it , at almost 100,000 Euro less than the original price. The owners got a divorce and they put it in the market. It wasn't moving, so they gave it for rent , who gave it to someone else, who was growing weed in a professional set up. Finally, the couple couldn't pay, the bank took the house. The weed people were busted. The house was a mess with the insulations ripped out (to take in the smell, so one would detect it), ripping out some plastered walls. It wasn't maintained for 2 years at least and hence a run down look.
But I wasn't sure because of the weed thing and of course its going to take some money to renovate and bring it back to its original glory. We went with our real estate agent to see it again. By the end of the week we put in a bid. Like we did 2 other times. No hope at this point, since Bobby has this number which is always too low to bid. And I give him the silent treatment. The real estate guy bids for us from a low number until our maximum which was 10,000 below the asking price. The carnival holidays come and go and we still havent heard from the bank. Monday morning after holidays, when I was at work, I get a text message from Bobby. "We got it for 225,000 Euros! We have a house. " That magic number of his worked. God gave us a house for Bobby's desired value. It was 20,000 below the asking price! I couldn't comprehend what happened, and it still didn't sink in a week later. How did we get it?
Was God that interested to get a house for us in the right price, and the right house? Was God into giving us material gifts too?
Now all of a sudden, I was feeling was this really from God full heartedly, or was it a response to my whining?
It took a while for me to feel grounded with this gift from God, when I was reading "Radical" by David Plaat. That God gives us material gifts to bless others and most importantly to show His glory and kindness.
We had to quickly apply for the mortgage since my residence permit was expiring on March 1 and we had to have valid permits before applying. As we send the forms on February 28th and the next day, my permit expired, it was another challenge I trusted God to see us through. With this time in the housing market, it wasn't easy to get a mortgage, and anything could happen for it to get rejected. I would only get a sticker in the passport as an alternative, while I waited for my new residence card on the 13th of March. As I went to the immigration office to get this sticker, the lady behind the counter said, that she couldn't give me the sticker. My immediate response was wear burlap and throw ashes on myself and begin mourning. It was only a few seconds later , that she said that my card was already here and she rather give me the card, than a sticker. Okay! burlap out and mourning ended. How quick I was to sinking! And if this itself wasn't enough, the date on my card begins from February 27th . Even though I was technically illegal for the past 13 days, this card says I had continuos permit without a single day without one. I never even prayed for this and never had to two sense to do it.... But my God, even thought of the minute things....
Yesterday, we heard that we got the mortgage. As we sign the documents , on the 2nd of April and get the key, and as we begin the renovation, I only pray that I continue to trust Him in ALL things and know that He has a good plan for me and my family.
