God Bringing Something Out of Nothing - Part 2

Part 2

As I shared in part 1 of this story, we began our search in the Stony Brook area, and we drove toward Stony Brook just as Tropical Storm Isaias hit. Having lived through 4 hurricanes in South Carolina we didn’t think much of a tropical storm. BUT Stony Brook has tons of old tall trees, which created quite the obstacle course as we followed our brave realtor from house to house. As tree limbs and power lines came down and roads became impassible, we finally came to our senses and called it a day. All of the houses on our list that day proved to be busts. The next day with power still out everywhere we came up empty again.

We drove away from Stony Brook out to Alexis’ house in Cutchogue on the North Fork a bit deflated, and the Lord began to move on our hearts. The Oh Hellos Christmas album came on my iPhone (if you haven’t heard it, it is a must!), and we all began to sing praises to the Lord. I was overcome by emotion as I listened to our girls sing their hearts out in the back seat of my mom’s Prius (our borrowed means of transportation during our stay). We had no idea where we were going to live and yet the Lord’s faithfulness was as apparent as ever to all of us. Kate felt him working on her heart as well and turning her focus away from Stony Brook out toward the North Fork.

We hadn’t really considered it before because we thought it was too far out from the city (1.5 hrs. out), but as we drove out past the vineyards and farm-stands we realized that the North Fork offers everything we were looking for especially when we want to create a place of retreat. There was more space, more opportunity for getting a property that could allow us to expand in the future, and being a little further away from the hustle and bustle of the city was a positive. The Mattituck/Cutchogue school district is also one of the best on Long Island (an important factor in our thinking). Kate was clear by the time we got to my sister’s that we needed to look for a place there.

There was only one problem…there weren’t any houses. One of the effects of Covid-19 was that people were pouring out of Manhattan into the surrounding areas in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Long Island in search of more space and freedom after being quarantined in their city apartments for months. The result was that the long stagnant real estate market on Long Island was now red hot. Houses were being bought sight unseen over the internet. We would look at a house and before we could think about an offer it would be snapped up. SO, I was discouraged. I even began to doubt that we would be able to find a place on this trip, and that thought triggered a faithless spiral for a few moments in me wondering why in the world the Lord would put us through all of this to come up empty handed. “Oh, ye of little faith,” right?

That evening my dad remembered that the house a few doors down from my sister’s had been on the market 5 years ago and never sold. Alexis remembered that she had looked at that house and loved it, but at the time she thought it was out of her price range. They all suggested that we walk down the street and knock on the door and ask the owner if she’d be interested in selling. I was unsure. I didn’t like the idea of cold calling someone about buying their house, and, as I’ve already shared, I wasn’t feeling exactly full of faith at this point. Kate, on the other hand, was. She would say, “That’s what happens when you’ve got nothing to lose!” The next day she got up wrote the owner a letter sharing our vision for ministry, walked down the street, and knocked on the door. The owner, a 74 yr. old woman named Lillian, welcomed Kate in and they spoke for over and hour and half! She toured Kate around the house, and Kate loved it. It is a beautiful old farm house that was built around 1750! Over the years it had been expanded and improved upon. It had everything we were looking for: enough space for our family, room for guests, 1.5 acres of property, a barn that could be converted to host our retreats, and even a pool! (an item the girls had been praying for). AND Lillian was interested in selling! She knew that after 45 years of living in this house it was becoming too much for her to care for.

She told Kate that she had a connection with my sister’s house too. Her family used to be very close to the family that sold the house to Alexis. The thought of having the two houses connected again made her very happy. Kate invited her over to my sister’s to meet everyone and see the improvements they had made to her friends’ old home. I think this went a long way to reassure her that we would take good care of her beloved home.

Two days later, after Lillian had a chance to tidy up, the girls and I toured the property, and we loved it too. I grew up in a house that was built right before the Civil War, so I love old houses. That evening we made the best offer we could. We knew with the market being what it is right now that if we didn’t make our best offer Lillian could go list the house and certainly get way more than what we could pay. In fact, as I looked at estimates of what the house could go for online some of them were over $100k higher than our price range. Thankfully, Lillian liked the sound of our offer, especially because she would not have to go through the pain of getting the house, the now over grown yard, and the neglected pool ready for listing. Even her family loved the thought of us getting the house. Everything looked to be headed in the right direction. Then, Lillian went quiet for days. The silence was excruciating for us. It turned out that she got nervous because she had no idea where she was going to move to. Thankfully her kids stepped up and helped her look for a new condo. Finally, a week after we had made our offer we heard from Lillian’s son-in-law and we came to an agreement on the price and close date. The deal was going to go through and the house would be ours!!!

There was no way we could have predicted this chain of events. We thought we knew where we should be, but the Lord had a better idea. As my former ACNA Archbishop, Robert Duncan, loved to say, “If you want to make God laugh, make plans.” He had a perfect spot picked out for us. He graciously led us to it step by step, and he grew our faith in the process. There is no way we would have been able to afford this house had it been on the market during this crazy time in real estate. Nor could we have done it without Peter’s gift. We never would have even considered it unless the Lord had brought it back to my dad’s memory. (Way to go dads!) And now we are getting a house through relationship, and we have had the chance to witness to Lillian in the process. Only our God, “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” could have done this (Romans 4:17). It is truly a miracle. We give him all the glory! This testimony of his faithfulness is the foundation for this new journey he has us on. What could be more perfect?!