Sold!!!!

Signing our lives away to our very first home was one of the best moments of our lives. We were so excited we could hardly contain it! To say that this process has been easy or that the hard part is over is a HUGE understatement. You have NO idea how much we prayed and how many times we were told “no” before we finally found our future home.

For those that are beginning their search for a house, or those that hope to find a home in the near future, here are few things we learned.

•  Pray- Seems pretty easy right? Well try telling yourself that when you find a home, fall in love with it, start figuring out how you’re going to decorate it, and then you’re told NO. I was crushed and I’m not even going to lie it got to me. I was so sad. That was first of many let downs let me tell you. Michael and I first started looking for homes last year when our apartment lease was up. I thought to myself how ideal it would be to move from our apartment into our brand new home. Yeah it’s not that easy. You may have a house that you want in mind and then God comes in and says no I have something better, just be patient.

• Save- What we should’ve been doing was saving money like crazy. We weren’t prepping for a house. We thought we were, but we were far from it. Once our lease was up, we decided the best and fastest way to buy our very first home is to take a leap of faith and move back home. That has been the most challenging. Being married and living with your in-laws should be illegal ha! I love my in-laws dearly it’s not that, but a married couple needs their privacy! But we decided it was worth making a temporary move so we could later make our permanent move. When we tell friends and family what we’re doing, they always say “You guys are really brave,” and to that I say thank you (and you may be right lol), but honestly we’re just so driven to be in our house. With Michael going back to school to become a youth pastor we knew this was best. So don’t be too prideful to go back home or make a drastic move to get to where you want. Those people you’re afraid of pleasing won’t be buying you your first home! Moving in with my in-laws has taught me humility and patience like no other, but it’s well worth it because we’ll be moving into our brand new home in just a few months!

• Sacrifice- This whole process is all about sacrifices and we’re not done yet. I would love to be shopping more, getting my nails done, going on trips with my husband, but unfortunately right now every dollar counts. We’ll be in our brand new house before we know it and every dollar needs to go towards that. Our biggest sacrifice was when we decided to give up our privacy and move in with his parents. Not to say we don’t get husband and wife time, but it’s different. It’s been tough but in the end we know it will all be worth it. Make sure you go into this house buying experience with an open mind, determination, and willingness to sacrifice A LOT. It will be hard, but I promise you so worth it!

• Have faith- It seemed that the more homes we looked at, the more we were being told no, and I’ve heard with building a home it’s even more stressful. After so many let downs I was ready to throw in the towel. I told Michael I didn’t want to look at any more homes. He tried to encourage me, but I think he secretly was over it too. The Holy Spirit tugged at my heart and I couldn’t give up. I stumbled upon this neighborhood and it seemed like it would be a perfect fit. We went to go see the neighborhood and fell in love. I got scared again and thought here we go again. Just when it seemed as if this wasn’t going to happen again, God spoke and said, “Congratulations, the home is yours!” Ok so the contractor told us that, but it might as well have been God because that’s whom we gave all our glory to!

Once we got the green light, the fun part came. We got to pick our brick! We were like little kids in the candy store. It was so cute to see my husband equally as excited as I was. I love seeing his eyes light up, it made my heart so full. To think that we will raise our future children there just made me so happy. It felt right. God confirmed that this was the place for us before we even entered the neighborhood. There was a huge sign that said “New Beginnings start here,” and I looked at my husband and said look at what it says! We both smiled because the name of our church is “New Beginnings Fellowship.”

I’m beyond happy to start this new beginning with the love of my life.

Love,

Mrs Luster