I Got Lost and Found Home

After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to sell my home.  For the past thirteen years, this place has been my safe haven, my refuge.  God led me to this house and worked out unbelievable circumstances to allow us to buy my dream house.  We saw one son move to the other side of the world a single young man and return with his bride.  We sent another son to Virginia to school and he remains there still.  The third son finished college, moved out got married and moved to Florida.  We have welcomed new life into this house when Makaila was born and said good-bye to a life when David went home to be with the Lord.  We've welcomed visitors from around the world and of all ages.  We celebrated holidays and birthdays here.  We had many good days, and some not so good.  But through all of the days, God has been faithful.

Now in a way that cannot be explained in any other way than God's leading, I have found a new place to call home.  Over the past few months there has been a stirring in my life that led me to dream a new dream.  I had never even considered the possibility of a change this drastic.  Since David's passing, I have spent much blood, sweat and tears (along with help from my boys and others) fixing and updating things that needed it.  And just when I got everything nearly like I want, God tells me it's time to sell it and move.  At first I wasn't sure at all that I could make this work, but with the boy's encouragement and nudging, I decided to take the leap of faith and put my home on the market.

So, where am I going, you may ask?  Well that is the miracle of miracles.  God has worked out an amazing set of circumstances that has made it possible for me to be a land owner with the ability to build a new house of my dreams.  There were many steps that had to fall into place and each one occurred at just the perfect time.  So with Detective York (Joseph) on the case in Thailand, the land search began.  He would send me messages about property for sale that I should preview before I got my realtor to schedule an appointment.  One evening, he sent a message about a possible property and we were looking at it online.  We decided I would ride out the next day to look at it.  He was trying to tell me the best way to go while I was looking it up on Google Maps.  I kept telling him Siri was telling me a different way to go, but he said the way he was telling me was the best route.  

Of course, after a night's sleep, that memory was no longer in the memory bank so I did what any normal person would do, I asked Siri how to get there.  Joseph had told me to FaceTime with him when I arrived so he could look at the property.  It was an incredibly beautiful morning with North Carolina blue beach skies containing fluffy, white clouds.  With praise music playing, Siri and I went for our drive.  After many turns, many seeming to go back and forth in the same direction, I ended up at a dead end and Siri announced "You have arrived at your destination."  I actually said out loud, what destination?  I am at a dead end with no property in sight.  I connected with Joseph in Thailand and promptly told him that I was lost and had no idea where I was or how to get where I was supposed to be going.  He asked if I had followed his directions, and I had to admit I forgot what he said so I went where Siri told me to go.  He immediately pulled up the map and told me to turn around and was about to give me the correct directions.  As I turned around I told him that I had seen a for sale sign as I drove to this dead end and I wasn't for sure if there was a house on the property but perhaps he could check it out.  He asked me to pull in, tell him the address and let him look it up.

In what seemed like just a few seconds, he asked for the phone number on the sign and told me to stay where I was that he was going to call the number and get some more information.  So, there I sat in the driveway praying no one would walk up on me with a shotgun.  After what seemed like an eternity, he called back and told me the property was vacant and I could go walk it.  I told him the gate was locked and he said the real estate agent said I could crawl under it.  So with Joseph on FaceTime in Thailand, I locked the car, crawled under the gate and started walking up the drive.  The farther I walked, the more emotional I became.  I remember telling him that I thought I might cry.  I was looking at a beautiful rolling pastureland before me and had chills running through me.  I knew in my heart of hearts that I was home.  And God again worked as only He could to allow the purchase of my new home.

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him."  Acts 17:24-27 ESV.

I do not know when I will start the building process, but God does.  My prayer is for the family that will find their new home in this place I have called home for so long.  I know that He will lead them to find it, just as He led me all those years ago and as he has led me to my new boundaries.  Following God where He leads can be scary and more often than not requires you to step out of your comfort zone.  And to know that He has already determined our allotted times and boundaries of our dwelling places is so exciting because even though I have no idea how it is all going to work out, I know He does.  I told Brian today that I feel an excitement stirring in my soul, a new life with a new dream is beginning to awaken within me.  This amazing journey of life God is leading me on is one I could never have imagined.  And just think, if I hadn't got lost, I wouldn't have found home.  Isn't God good?  Even when you think things are going the wrong way, He shows you His best in the midst of what you believe to be your worst.  

May God richly bless you all in your journey.  I pray that if you haven't found Him that you will seek Him, for He is there.

In His love,

Pam