Day 5 of Mark Batterson’s 40 Days of Prayer is titled ‘Write it Down.’ Throughout the chapter, Batterson expounds upon a simple phrase, “The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.”
40 Days of Prayer is a book I turn to at critical junctures in my life. It helps me focus my prayer life by teaching me to pray through the various facets of a situation rather than just praying about it generically.
Because of the times I’ve read it, I often recall bits and pieces of it during my prayer time. Day 5 is one of those chapters I think about a lot. It doesn’t hurt that one of the subtitles in that chapter is ‘Journal like a Journalist.’
As a journalist, it is my job to capture details. It is a practice I utilize in my personal life too. Before I accepted the job at WYMT four years ago, I wrote down the 13 miracles that should not have happened that made the opportunity possible. I still have the two sticky notes I wrote those reasons on in my office at the News Journal. They are posted in my office because they remind me who God is and what he has done for me.
Do you mind if I use this column as a sticky note to record some of His recent miracles in my life?
If you do mind, you probably want to move onto another story here…
In 2022, I was living in an apartment in Hazard. Hazard, like many places, has a housing shortage. After the July 2022 flood, many of the properties out of the flood zone were quickly purchased by flood survivors looking to relocate. In late September, I needed to find new housing, so I began looking to buy a home rather than continuing to rent.
My prayers during that time were often, “God, open doors that no man can close and close doors that no man can open.”
As I looked at properties, I thought all hope was lost. Homes in my price range were not ideal, and ideal homes were not in my price range.
Then came the house in Sassafras…
Miracle 1: The house was originally priced at $170,000, but I was able to get it under contract at $150,000.
Day 22 in 40 Days of Prayer is titled ‘Prayer Fleece.’ It is based on the scripture in Judges 6 where God calls Gideon to become a judge in Israel. In scripture, Gideon lays a fleece before the Lord and asks for confirmation.
Prayer fleeces should not be taken lightly, nor do I use them as a regular practice. In this instance though, I laid a fleece. I asked God, “If this house is your will, let it be within the price range. If it is not, I will trust you to provide another place.”
When I started house hunting, I knew as a single woman in her early 20s my price cap would be lower than most properties. My price cap? $150,000.
Miracle 2: The mortgage company accepts Disney+ as a line of credit.
Once the house was under contract, it came time to process the financing. It is important to note – when I bought the house, I had never had any other line of credit. The only thing I had was a single credit card account that had almost been closed because of inactivity. When the mortgage company ran my credit, it showed there was not enough history. They asked me for any accounts I could think of to show I made payments regularly. The only other account I had with a long enough history to qualify was Disney+.
The staff I worked with were not sure it would work, but they submitted the information to underwriting. Sure enough, it came back. I qualified for the mortgage.
If buying a house using Disney+ isn’t a God-thing, I am not sure we have the same definition of the word miracle.
Miracle 3: The inspection meant I was under budget.
As the process continued, I had the home inspected. There were several things I knew were going to need upgrades. Those features would cost an additional $10,000.
I again prayed about it. ‘Lord, what do I do? Open doors that no man can close and close doors that no man can open.’
I requested an adjustment to the contract price. I lowered my offer to $140,000. At that point, I truly thought the deal would be dead in the water. I was ready to start looking again but then came an addendum. The sellers accepted the new price.
Miracle 4: God did not just get me into the house; He paid for it too.
Once the deal closed, I was faced with the first mortgage payment. It was fine. I had enough money to pay my bills, but it was tight.
But God. After making my payments for a couple of months, something unexpected happened. I received a promotion I had spent months praying for. The promotion came with a pay increase. How much of an increase you may ask… the same amount as my new mortgage payment.
I remember walking out of the general manager’s office and calling my mom to tell her, “God did not just give me a house. He is paying for it too!”
Miracle 5: “He got me into the house, and He will get me out!”
When I knew I would be leaving WYMT, I put the house on the market. My listing price was high, but I also had a number in my head of what I needed. After several months on the market with a singular showing, I dropped the price. God knew what my minimum was. We had talked about it regularly.
Even when it seemed like it would never sell, my mom kept reminding me, “He got you into the house, and He will get you out of it.”
Patience has never been my strong suit, but I believe God was posing the question, ‘Will you trust me?’
It went beyond just if would I trust Him to sell the house. It extended to if I would also trust Him to provide what I ‘needed’ to get out of it.
Within a few weeks of dropping the price, I got an offer. It was right at what I needed.
Miracle 6: If it is not good, then God is not done.
I had finally gotten the offer I wanted! Things seemed to be moving in the right direction. Then came the appraisal. The appraisal came back lower than anyone anticipated – way lower.
To keep the offer moving forward, I was once again going to have to drop the price.
For privacy purposes, I won’t tell the full story here, but just know it ends with… But God!
Even with the price drop, I would still get enough out of the sale to get what I needed.
Miracle 7: I made it!
If you attended Parkway Ministries on Easter, you heard Pastor Mark say it more than once, “I made it!”
On April 6, I signed over the deed to the house in Sassafras. Nearly three and a half years to the day from when I bought it, it was time for the home that brought me so many blessings to bless another family. As I made the drive home, I cried. The tears were both happy and sad. I rejoiced because, “I made it!” I also grieved saying goodbye to a bittersweet chapter in my life.
Throughout the entire journey, I can trace God’s hand in it. Thank you for letting me use this column as my sticky note. If the number of times I read the ‘WYMT Miracles’ sticky notes are any indication, I look forward to going back and re-reading this note as I reflect on just how good my God truly is.
