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In the late 1980's we felt impressed to pursue some sort of "ministry" calling, but we didn't know what that would mean. We knew that to get our lives into a place where the Lord could use us, we needed to be out of debt to be as free as possible. We also felt very impressed that we needed to locate our family away from the cities, in a rural setting.
So we put the two homes we owned on the market, thinking that whichever one sold first, we would use the proceeds to pay off the other house and live there. We were NOT prepared, however, for both houses to go under contract the same week! We were expecting a baby in May of 1987, and were thrilled when our "second" house was sold. The following weekend was the last weekend we planned to have our "first" house listed. I was due to deliver anytime, and the hassle of getting ready to show the house with four young kids keeping things lively was more than I wanted to deal with. So when the realtor called to ask to show our house that last Sunday afternoon, we reluctantly said yes. We did the usual tidying up (as fast as I could waddle) and in the process of moving some stuff near the garage, I stepped on a board with a nail poking through it, running it through the bottom of my flip flops and into my foot. Now I waddled AND hobbled! Just before showing time, our agent called to cancel the showing. The husband had been called into his work unexpectedly and they wouldn't be able to come see the house. I was so relieved to be able to call off the cleaning frenzy and just relax. A couple of hours later, my husband was working in the yard when a car drove by very slowly. The car passed our driveway, turned around, and came back. A man got out and came up the drive to meet my husband. A few minutes after that, my husband came inside to tell me it was the husband who had been called in to work. He came by after he got off just to see if the house even appealed to him. It did, and he asked if we would honor his agent's appointment and show him the house. We called our realtor and squared that away with him and my husband led the fellow through the house and garages. They talked for a good while, and the husband left...to go and get his wife and his agent to come back and see the house. He was so excited that our house was exactly what they had been looking for. An hour or so afterward, the husband returned with his wife and agent, and HE took them on a tour of the property as though HE was the realtor! And later our agent came to see us with a contract for the house. There were were, new baby on the way, and both houses sold. We had to find something within the next two months to move into. (to be continued)
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