God can you hear me?

Have you ever wonder if God really hears you? I've wondered more than once in my life, but as I get older, I'm learning to see how God hears me. Sometimes it's an aha moment and sometimes it's awhile before I realize what He's done.

While going through my divorce, I needed to find a home in a safer location and also something that I could afford on my own.  I petitioned God and actually gave him a list of what I wanted in a home.  Now, I didn't give Him this list every time I prayed but I had asked Him on multiple occasions to help me find a home.

My prayer went something like this: Please God give me a home with a big tree in the front yard, three bed rooms, a living and family room, a big back yard, air conditioning and a swamp cooler.  Let me have good neighbors and let it be a safe place for us to live and also let there not be a lot of things for me to fix in the home.

My realtor also had a list of what I did and didn't want in a home.  If you've never bought a home before you tell your realtor what type of home and the locations you would like to live in. I was willing to live in a block home, three bed rooms and close to my parents. My realtor had three homes for me to look at that fit what I was looking for.

The first home I was shown was a bit older but had the things that I wanted.  I thought I could do better.  The second home was in the same neighborhood and the first house.  It was nice but only had one bathroom and only a living room and really small kitchen.  The third home I was shown was not the best of neighborhoods, but it sure was nice inside.  The owner had put in a lot of upgrades so it looked brand new inside.  It  needed work on the outside, broken fence and the roof needed an upgrade.  But despite the money and work I would have to put into the house,  I wanted to make a bid on the house.

The owner of the third house wouldn't budge on his price so I had to walk away.  I went to look at the second house but had a lot of reservations about the resale of the home later with it only having one bathroom.  So I went to give the first house a second look and to not dismiss it as quickly as I  did the first time.

The first home had three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a living room and family room, and a swamp cooler.  There was a large backyard and even a bonus storage area and laundry room.  In the front yard was a big tree.  While I was there the owner came home.  I met the wife and started to share with her about my situation.  I found out that her children had gone to the same high school as I did and that one of her children worked at the same place as me that was only blocks away from her home.  Her family was the first owners of the home.  We learned a lot about each other in her kitchen that day.

I placed a bid on the house and found out along with my bid there was also two more on the table. I can only say that even though I had thought I had wanted one house, God closed that door.  He then gave me reservations on another home and finally put me in the first house at the right time to meet the owner.  They chose my bid, I want to say if my memory is correct, my bid was lower than the other two but we didn't go into a bid war, they chose my bid.

Not only had God heard my prayer he also new my heart.  The house had really ugly carpet, I mean ugly and old fashioned.  I opened the door to my new home and guess what? I had new updated carpet! I had nothing to repair or fix outside or in.  Even though the house had no air conditioning, God had established a working relationship between myself the air/heating guy at work.  He was able to find me a used unit, installed that unit for next to nothing.

And that big tree in the front yard, that tree housed Woody and Woodetta.  They had a family of woodpeckers that returned to that nest for the 5 years that I lived in that home.  I had wonderful neighbor's that introduced themselves to me within that first week of moving in.  V and neighborhood kids played together and shared made wonderful memories together.

I found a new church home that V was dedicated in and was located in the neighborhood.  God gave us a bird for V's birthday when she was 4 years old.  She really thought that He gave her that bird for her birthday. Colors stayed with us until a few years after we moved into our current house. Colors got sick and died but is buried in our backyard.  We planted an apple tree that my grandma gave to V for her birthday.  We only saw apples on it for one year but I hope it remains at that house today. 

I wish I could say I new right away what God had done.  But truthfully it wasn't until a couple years after buying the home that I realized how God gave me everything I had asked for, and more.  I can say I've not forgotten and I have tried to stop, listen, and see how God works in my life.