He Is With Me
By Lover of Words
It all began as I was growing up. I lived in a 5 bedroom brick house in Atlanta, Georgia. My parents were just middle class working people but they had nice things. However, the economy took a turn for the worst and prices for things, like houses and cars, have sky rocketed.
With that being said, a regular working middle class couple can’t afford the things as the middle class could afford years ago.
But there is an equalizer who raises a standard up against the economy. That equalizer is the Lord Jesus Christ! My wife and I got married in 2005 and have been living in a one bedroom condo since then. We now have a baby on the way and we needed to get a bigger place. Naturally, since I grew up in a five bedroom brick house… that is the same type of house that I want my family to grow up in.
The problem with that dream is that a five bedroom, all brick house, costs about 350 thousand dollars or more. Inflation in the housing market just has not kept the pace with working people’s salary. My wife is a RN and I am an IT professional and we just don’t make enough money to live comfortably with that kind of mortgage payment.
But God, my Father, stepped in at the most opportune time and changed the real estate market. Now houses that usually cost $400,000 are now being sold for prices like $280,000. But if that wasn’t good enough; my Father dropped interest rates lower than they have been in about 10 years. Wow! Now that is good news!
This is how the miracle/blessing unfolded. My wife and I have been looking for houses since May of 2009. It is now January of 2010 and we are just now seeing the reality of our dream. First of all, we have looked at over 200 new houses and the houses we really like have still been out of our price range. We didn’t let that discourage us because people keep saying, “This is the best time to buy a house.” Right!
It is always like that until I am trying to get the savings. To be honest with you; I just couldn’t find the deals that people kept talking about. I couldn’t find the 35% off houses that were worth anything. But then things turned around and my mother introduced me to a 78 year old lady who had been selling Real Estate for over 30 years. This woman couldn’t find her keys most of the time but she could find her way around to the best deals that Atlanta had to offer. She was a God send. Well, we would go looking for houses everyday and I must admit… it was very fun. I love looking at houses.
Then she showed my wife and I this old house that was about 22 years old. We didn’t want a house older than about 5 years. However, we went and checked it out. The first thing my wife said was, “I like it but I hate that kitchen… It is old and outdated.” I really didn’t love the house myself but I could see the potential. So we kept looking for houses.
We looked and we looked until we had seen probably every housing subdivision in Snellville. We started to notice that the newer houses had the flash and glamor but they just weren’t made that good. We noticed things like decks falling apart and the house was only 4 years old. We saw walls that looked like the person had been roller skating on them. To put it plainly; they just weren’t made well. So my mother and my Real Estate agent talked my wife and I to going back to see the house. Reluctantly, we went back.
We looked at the outside and saw that the house was 100% brick. We then looked at the inside and noticed that we had more storage place than we could probably use in a lifetime and also the basement, that was just as big as the house, was finished. In the newer houses the basement was unfinished. We looked at the deck, that was 22 years old, and it looked brand new. Not to mention that every house in the subdivision was built different but they all looked presidential.
So needless to say… my wife and I discussed buying the house and just doing a little remodeling. Next we went to get some financing. A friend turned me on to a person she knew and we went from there. I talked to the lady on a Saturday and it just so happened that the interest rate for that day was at 4.5%. Listen, when I tell you this! An interest rate like that was a miracle during this time. Most of the rates fell between 4.75% and 5.5%.
Did I mention that we got that rate on a Saturday? Exactly, who does a mortgage application on a Saturday? Answer: My Father! Now, we got an FHA loan and that is a loan, offered by the government that allows you to only put down 3.5%. That is great but the catch is that you can only have one FHA loan. I had a FHA loan on the current house that we were living in. Bomber!
Did I mention that my Father is the Lord Jesus Christ? Okay, so that was just an obstacle because they have some exceptions that they grant under special circumstances. Yes, I just happened to be the exception. Let me tell you how rare it is to get two FHA loans. When I talked with the FHA representative she informed me about the criteria but said, “I only know of one person who has ever met it.” My heart started racing because I already was spending all of my money and if I had to get a conventional loan; I would have to put down 5% of the loan amount.
God showed up and took what looked impossible to done in 20 days. I am now a proud owner of 5000 square feet, all brick house, with a finished basement for an illegal price amount. This is my testimony of the LORD JESUS CHRIST! He is Faithful and True and He will give His children Good gifts constantly if they Faint Not. Not only did he give me what my heart desired, but He started cutting the prices of my other bills, giving me wisdom on how to maneuver money, and He also changed some tax laws so I could get in on the Obama first home buyers tax break! Hallelujah! He is Jehovah Jireh!
“God will cause material completion to super abound in conclusion of the matter of His divine grace and favor.”
That is what the numbers of my house mean. The house number is 4895!
Be Blessed!
