To Loan or Not to Loan... Maybe?

I am an emotional wreck right now! Some of you know that we have been looking for a house since March. It has been depressing! What you get here for $400,000 is not a lot in comparison to Fort Worth, TX! All the houses we found needed a LOT of work! We also knew we really needed a fourth bedroom. My mom comes often and for longer periods of time and sleeping on my sofa is not fun for her. AND when TJ's parents come or if my dad comes with my mom they can't stay with us... it's just a mess! We have enjoyed our house that we have rented but have outgrown it!

One day our agent told us to go look at this house. He said it was out of our price range but he just wanted us to see it. Of course it was amazing compared to everything we looked at so far and we told him we would TAKE IT for $400,000. He laughed and said, "Yeah Right... it will probably be closer to $460,00 but we'll pray about it and see what God does".

So we began the waiting game... we waited and waited. We first had to wait for the appraiser to appraise the house. THEN we had to wait for the seller (a bank because it is a foreclosure) to decide on a selling price. At this point we still did not know if it would be in our price range or not. Please keep in mind that when you live out here you have to have a BIG budget for a home and even though TJ and I knew we would have to save every penny almost and it would be tight monthly, we both felt lead to look for a home and pray about planting ourselves here. We both felt like even though prices were still WAY more than we have ever been used to(even though they have gone down about $200-300,000 since when we moved here three years ago) that if we didn't buy now we would not be able to buy in this area for a LONG LONG time. SO we decided to TRY and buy a house...

Anyway, so after a TON of prayer and wondering and more prayer, we heard on May 15th that the listing price was $430,000. Still WAY out of our range but closer than $460,000!! So we had to wait again... to pray and think about seriously trying to get this house. We didn't know if we could put in an offer.. an offer that could possibly be accepted. We finally put in an offer and it got ACCEPTED!!! WHAT A BLESSING! We really didn't think the seller would accept but with the market these days maybe they were just ready to get rid of it... understandable.

SO... then comes the loan approval stage of things. We knew we pre-QUALIFIED but had not sent in all our paper work and stuff. We prayed for a GREAT interest rate..6% was my specific prayer request and we got it! Well... we were supposed to close last Friday (July 25th) BUT there is an issue and we don't even know if we are going to get a loan!!!!! OH MY GOSH! I am freaking out. Banks are being so strict right now, which I totally understand, so I don't know if we will or not. WE know we can pay our monthly payment and we have a good down payment but I know banks are being SO cautious! Honestly if they don't give us a loan I have NO idea who is out there getting a loan. But oh well...

The LORD has brought us a long way from seeing our California "dream home" and thinking there was NO WAY to there MIGHT be a way... IF we can get a loan. I feel like the Lord has made this happen... I KNOW He has made this happen. There were so many things that seemed impossible but became possible. BUT now we don't know if we are going to get a loan. No loan... no house!

My quiet time this morning was about God's faithfulness. I KNOW God is faithful... I KNOW God has a plan for our family... BUT what if we don't get a loan. I will be so disappointed and heart broken. I feel like if we don't get the loan then why did everything seem to work out along the way only for us to get to the end and then have my heart broken. But I cannot question God's faithfulness. I cannot allow my fear of disappointment to hinder me from trusting my God. The whole time I have prayed for God's BEST for our family. Maybe this house is His best. Maybe its not... I have to choose to TRUST Him. I know God has taught me a LOT through this experience.
- Patience- "The art of being peaceful and hopeful as you wait"
- Peace- I have learned that I have a peace problem more than a patience problem. It's not that I can't be patient but I have a hard time being peaceful about the outcome while waiting.
- Knowing that God is faithful... even when we don't understand His timing!
- His ways are BEST.

In my Beth Moore study I am doing right now (Living Beyond Yourself) I read this this morning "I am convinced that faith sometimes means knowing God can, whether or not He does."

That really touched me! I KNOW God can work this out. BUT He might choose to allow this house buying opportunity to pass us by. WHY? Because HE has something better planned for our family. I am praying for peace for my heart and my mind. I HATE being consumed with thoughts about when will the bank call to tell us what's going on.

Please pray for me and our family. We are SUPPOSED to close on Friday, August 1st. My mom arrives on Thursday to help with the move. She is staying for a month (it's going to be a LONG month unless we have the new 4th bedroom in the new house!). I need to have a garage sale on Saturday, the 2nd, so that I might can make a few dollars to put toward some "wants" for the house. THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO but I have no motivation because I don't know if we are moving or not. Our agent says to start packing... I am scared to start.

SO MAYBE!? We might be getting a house we might not. Please be PRAYING! To loan or not to loan?... that is the question!

P.S.- Encouragement and advice welcome! :)