The Power of Prayer

When we first started talking about moving to Florida, it wasn't a clear path of how that would happen. We'd been trying to move to Tennessee for the previous 3 years, and not a single door was open. We couldn't even get a window cracked open.

The funny part about moving to Florida - how fast it happened.  We didn't just get a window, but multiple doors opened wide - wider than I thought possible!  And every prayer was answered so thoroughly, we were left amazed.

It was harder making a sale on the place in Ohio than it was to actually buy in Florida.

So what prayers were answered??

1 - My friend who had moved to Florida had been praying we'd move to Florida. When we came to visit in January 2015, I told her that my husband had said "don't ask, because we'll never move to Florida."  She said "I'm not asking, I'm praying." Later I'd learn that it wasn't just her praying, but her mom, siblings, and entire congregation at church! When we had arrived in Florida my husband was not feeling well and his arthritis was flared up badly. He slept soundly the first two nights, which is unusual for him, and his arthritis wasn't as bad by day two. Suddenly, our vacation turned into a house hunting trip!

2 - We didn't want to move and have a mortgage. Originally we thought we'd have to sell the Ohio home to make this happen, so first prayed for our house to sell. Then somehow our prayers changed. We prayed to not be dependent on the Ohio place to purchase in Florida. That prayer was answered above and beyond what we could have imagined! Thanks to a few smart decisions, and the right timing, within six months we found ourselves dual home owners.

3 -  We didn't want to sell our Ohio home to just anyone. We wanted the new owners to see the beauty and potential and to appreciate the land as we did. As it was, our house went on the market in May, and 2 weeks later went under contract and stayed under contract, with 3 different buyers, until we finally closed in October! Meanwhile, we had purchased and moved into our Florida house before we had a final deal on the Ohio house!  Once again prayers were answered in that the buyers were exactly the kind of people we hoped to have buy our place!

The time frame was so fast - God answered all prayers and moved us in 6 months! Not just moved us, but opened all kinds of doors and windows that we never dreamed would be opened!  The blessings from Him have continued since our move as well!  We have a wonderful church, have made new friends, I'm employed, the schools are way better than what we left, and we're getting bees in April!  How amazing is that?!

I also learned later that other people were also praying about our move - that God would plant us where He wanted us. While I think they were actually praying that was Ohio, God moved fast at moving us.

We are enjoying this new adventure we've embarked on together, and are so excited to see what plans God has in store for us!