The Journey to a Fulfilled Dream (Pt. 1)

At the beginning of every new year, LT and I set personal and family goals for our household. We have Biblical understanding of the importance of writing down our specific goals (so we can physically see them), coming into agreement about them (because we are one), attaching the Word of God to each (so that we know we are aligned with God's plans for us) and sowing serious seed towards them (applying the Biblical principle of giving and receiving) and with faith, we expect them to come pass. However, because God's timing is not the same as ours, there are times when we haven't crossed off some goals by the end of the year. If this happens, we re-evaluate the goal and either roll it over to the next year or delete it all together.

In 2015, I began to express my desire for us to move from our two-bedroom condo into a house. This desire seemed to sprout up from out of "no where" because we had just done some major renovations on our condo and planned to do more. I mean MAJOR: we installed new flooring, added plantation shutters throughout, remodeled the bathrooms and were planning to remodel the kitchen and purchase new appliances and furniture. M-A-J-O-R. And along with this, we also began to explore the real possibility of me becoming a full time homemaker and writer. However, because these were just "desires", LT and I had not yet added them to our goals. Yet, the desire was there.

Fast-forward to the end of 2015. It was now time for us to sit down and come into agreement about our 2016 desires and goals. As usual, God's timing is perfect because through our Pastor, the Holy Spirit declared we would "live our dreams in 2016!" and by faith, we came into agreement and in addition to other goals, we added:

"To accommodate space and support the comfortability of our family, by June 30th we will make a list and come into agreement about what we would like to see in our future residence." Isaiah 32:18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places; Philippians 4:6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

"To accommodate space and support comfortability of our family, by December 2016 we will begin to actively search for our future home, which will be fully equipped and furnished with all of our desires." Deuteronomy 1:8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ Isaiah 32:18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;

This meant by our calculations we should be in our new home by the end of 2016!

Throughout 2016, we completed other goals on our list. For instance in July, we stepped out on faith and I became a full-time homemaker and writer. (You can read more about that journey here.) We also spent time with extended family and life went on. Although I still watched my HGTV shows for ideas and inspiration about our next home, we really didn't focus on relocating. In fact, by the end of the year we continued with our renovations and I wondered if maybe I jumped the gun with my desire to add anything about us relocating in the first place. But we weren't swayed or led to remove them. So, in normal fashion, we rolled those desires to our 2017 goals.

Shortly after the new year began, LT came home and told the girls and me to get ready to go for a drive. He didn't say where we were going so we didn't know what to expect. It turned out that he had done research on homes in our surrounding area that were for sale and wanted to drive by them to get our opinions. Needless to say, I was excited to go! However, all the houses that we drove by were NOT what I had in mind when I expressed the desire to move! They were either too small, had no curb appeal or were just plain ugly. Yet, I was excited by the fact that we were now actively looking at houses!

That night, we began to discuss the pros and cons of every house we visited. We were all in agreement that none of the houses were what we were looking for. But this was good because this confirmed that we were on the right track with our goal of writing down the specifics of what we did want in our future residence. Once we returned home, LT and I sat down and wrote down the specifics of what we were looking for:

Home Desires

Castro Valley, San Leandro (above 580), Hayward

View of the San Francisco Bay Area

3+ bedrooms/ 2+ Full Baths

Spacious master bedroom

Walk in closets

Entertainment Areas (backyard/family room)

Spacious kitchen

Ideal location

And just like that...we were REALLY looking for our new house! But wait! What about our current house? Were we sure that NOW was the time? Were really we ready?

Tune in next week to read what happened next!

~TC

If you enjoyed reading this WHOAment, you may also like "Keep Calm. And Focus."

I love hearing from you, so let's chat!

*Do you have a specific goal that you are wanting to achieve in 2017?

*Describe your dream home.

*If money were no object, where would you chose to live?

*What do you think happened next on our journey?