At the beginning of 2020 we knew that my husband would be leaving the army that December, and we would need to buy a home. We came into the year praying that God would direct us to the right property and that He would be with us in all that we needed.
I had a house from before we were married that had been tenanted for some years. In line with the contract, I gave my tenant two months’ notice in February 2020 – she moved out after a month as she found somewhere else – 5 days before lockdown. Had she not moved out by then I would not have been able to evict her as I found out later that she had a heart condition and needed to shelter. A first answer to prayer.
We entered lockdown and the house became a refuge for me as I could travel over on a Sunday, do my landlord checks and get the house ready for sale. As soon as the housing market opened, we got the house on the market, and it went under offer in just 10 days. My solicitor had retired, and God provided a new solicitor from the same practice who was not only a Christian but the person who had played keyboard at our wedding – a second answer to prayer.
We were only able to view two houses due to the speed the market was moving. The first house was the one we knew was right and we put the offer in on the way back home on the M4 – it was also accepted on the M4.
Throughout the whole process I felt as though I worked hand in hand with the Lord. I had pinned the estate agent’s details to a kitchen cupboard and prayed over it every time I saw it.
God provided searches at just the right time and kept the process moving so that we could be moved in before the schools re-opened in September. Memorably, we were at Stonehenge as the last search came in and the following day whilst waiting to meet my in-laws I dealt with the solicitor’s queries. We had a lovely day with the family – and then received a phone call just as we were leaving to discuss exchange dates.
The final answer to prayer for the move was, as I walked down the hill in Chippenham to pick up the keys, I got the call to say that our daughter had her school place in the village we were moving to. This was followed by a call from her new teacher to find out about her.
In all I have never worked together with the Lord before in such a way – his timing was perfect and worked in ways that I could never have planned, and I just kept up with him.
We are now settled in our forever home! Thank you, Lord!
*Photo credit: https://www.pexels.com/@mikebirdy