Thankfulness

Most of you know that in addition to being an attorney, my husband buys and flips properties to support our family. It's been a while since he's done this. The real estate market is slower than it was last year and the year before that and we've had a project or two that didn't go as well as we'd hoped.

At the end of the summer Brad found a two family house that was part of an estate sale. We were able to buy it at a very low price. The margins were so good that it seemed that it would be impossible not to make money. Without boring you with too many of the details, there was an issue with the properties title that was discovered just before the closing. We weren't sure if we should still buy it. As an attorney, my husband knew that it wasn't that big of a deal. However, a potential buyer might not see it that way.

For the first time since we've been doing this, Brad and I sat down and prayed together about the property. We prayed for wisdom and that God would bring the right buyer and that we would be able to sell it quickly. I prayed and have been praying that we would sell it on the first day. We bought the property.

We converted the building into condos and put the first unit on the market in October. At the first open house, Brad received a near full price offer on the unit that was not even renovated. The unit did not have walls and someone bought it! A week later, the completed unit went under agreement.

God's hand in this is so clear to me. Our prayers were so specific and they have been specifically answered. The real estate market is still slow. There are a lot of condos for sale in the area. One of our buyers looked at 11 units in one afternoon and chose ours. That's God. Nobody can convince me otherwise.

I'm thankful and I'm humbled. Far to often I try to do it all on my own. I don't ask for wisdom or guidance. I don't ask for strength and I fail. Over and over, I fail. More than the money that we will make, I needed this reminder that God is BIG. He's watching, he's paying attention, he's in control and he wants to give us good things. I'm not just talking about money... rest and joy, patience and contentment are all there for the asking.