From Homeless to Hope

Quick recap for context: In my last post, I shared how a miracle, or God’s Grace redirected steps in a situation that I thought was untenable. I was just starting to read scripture, and Proverbs 3:5-7 became my guidepost for moving through moments when all seemed lost. Read Beyond Belief: Miracles that Transform Part 1 if you missed it.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-7

Once again, I was facing one of life’s crossroads and had to sell my house from a divorce. I couldn’t afford to stay there anymore; it was a large house that we bought when we had 3 children and an in-law for my parents. We had been living there 18-plus years at this point.

I had just started a tech marketing job that was remote, and I was able to put my plans into action to prepare the house for sale. I was blessed to have a great realtor (anyone in the northern MA/southern NH area, contact Rosanna Zingales-Lopez, Team Zingales Realty). She knew I was in a tough spot and paid for a staging consultant to give me recommendations to declutter my place for showings - which involves removing furniture, pictures, personal items, and such to create a more open, appealing space.

Once the house got cleaned up, it looked presentable. We held our first open house in late July 2015. It wasn’t quite a seller’s market at this time, but it was moving in this direction. Shortly after, we got a request from a prospective buyer from the open houe to see the house again. It had only been on the market for a few days, so that was a good sign!

After a couple more visits, we received a great offer. It was enough to share a decent split with David’s Dad (David is my son) and allow both of us to start again with a little bit of cash.

There was a wildcard, though. The buyers wanted to move in by the end of August, and it was the very beginning of August giving me 4 weeks to pack up and find something else…

In my Proverbs 3:5-7 thinking, I confirmed that with God, I’ll find something…

The first week goes by, and I don’t find anything. Clean up is slow, I had forgotten how much stuff we had in this house. Week 2 goes by, I’m scouring the rental listings because I will not be able to buy anything quite yet. I discovered that places that I thought would be a slam dunk, like those cool converted mill buildings, don’t work for us.

It’s Week 3, and I’m now in the 10-day window of closing. And still nothing. The listings are the same listings – something you don’t notice until you are in that position. I was looking for a place that would accommodate my son, a bedroom for my parents, and a small dog, so that added some complication.

As the third week came to an end, I got a call from my brother. The conversation went like this:

Him: “So, you have no place to live as of next week”

Me: “Yes, that is what it looks like.”

Him: “How can you sleep at night, knowing you have no place to live.”

Me: “I don’t know, there isn’t anything. I might have to book a long stay hotel or something just in case something doesn’t come to fruition. I just lean on the fact that God delivers and hoping he still can.”

<these statements of Faith, I truly believe, are what open the door for miracles>

My brother didn’t mean to sound unsupportive; he lived in Florida and couldn’t help much from there. He was just expressing his concern and empathizing with my situation.

It is the final week; the house closing is Friday.

On Monday, a friend of mine who lives a couple of towns over sends links to 2 places near him and his wife, who are friends from college. I had looked at one of properties online and I had passed over it before, but this time I thought, why not, I may as well look. I could be close to my friends at this location. I had nothing to lose, and time was of the essence.

I made an appointment to see the house on Tuesday. Surprisingly, I liked it. It was the inverse of the house I was in - which was a 6,000 square foot colonial, to a 1,000 sq ft 1970s ranch. I surmised most of my stuff would not fit in the house, but it backed up to a nice private yard and the kitchen was modern. They would permit a small dog. It had 3 tiny bedrooms, but I could accommodate everyone on my list. Rent was less than the mortgage I was paying. I fill out the application on the spot.

As I’m backing out of the driveway, I hear a voice say to me, clear as day, “This will be good for you.”

Did I hear that right?

On Wednesday morning, I was notified that my application was rejected because my credit was bad (and that was true, it was a low score). I had told the realtor this would be the case, but my income was strong, and the sale of my house would right the situation. It didn’t matter. I started to panic. 48 hours to closing.

My mind starts running…

…. I better book a long stay hotel somewhere ...

…I’m going to need a storage facility as the movers I had scheduled had to put the stuff somewhere…

Then I stop myself and paused.

Didn’t I hear a voice that said, “this will be good for you”?

One of the big lessons I have learned in my Faith journey is that if God wants you to have something, you will have it DESPITE how shitty things look in circumstances. And right about now things looked shitty.

The next call I make is to the realtor, who is the person renting the place and I ask to meet in person. I go to his office, bring my mother for support, and talk to him heart to heart. I produced my paystubs and shared the sale details to show him that after Friday, affording his place would be feasible. He looked at my mother and then asked the question I was hoping wouldn’t be needed: Would she cosign for me? I was mortified. Imagine, at this point in my life needing a cosigner! But, that is where I was. She agreed.

He calls me a few hours later.

He agrees to rent me the house. And…...

I can move in Friday. And….

Meet him on Thursday to sign documents, he will give me the keys and I can start bringing things in then.

God certainly moves mountains.

We lived there for a couple of years. I really enjoyed this home, and my son did too. The dog loved the yard, and we had plenty of places to walk.

Guess what my favorite thing about this house was?

I could vacuum the entire house without unplugging the vacuum machine once. It is the small things. It used to take me hours to clean the big house. I went from barely surviving in a beautiful, large house to thriving in a small one.

God is so good. I recognize getting cosigner takes away a little from the “magic” of this story, but I think it is an important detail. God does create miracles. However, this does not mean he waves a magic wand and fixes everything. It means that if we truly live our faith then we must do everything we can that is within our realm to do. It may be the smallest of things, but if we fulfill all we can do, then God can do his Work…creating miracles in the spaces in between.

“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters…”
Isaiah 43:16

I often wonder, if I didn’t hold my Faith in a space of conviction, would the decision have gone my way? Would I have recalled my conversation with the Holy Spirit and make the last plea to the realtor? I’ll never know. I consider that Miracle #2.

God’s timing is impeccable. He is never early or late. This was definitely a nail biter.

I did experience this type of “miracle” one more time. Stay tuned for Miracle #3.