From House to Home

This post is by Dana Sitton.

Purchasing a home is an exciting event marked with anticipation and emotion. The process involves many facets, from researching specific areas and school districts, to contemplating paint colors and where furniture will best fit. Many dreams and plans are shared and made throughout the home buying process. 

When we purchased our first home, we knew that we wanted to live in a suburb with good schools, mature oak trees, and friendly neighbors. We searched with a list of criteria and a desired budget. What we didn’t factor in, was that the real estate market in the area that we were searching, had more potential buyers than inventory available. My husband and I found a house that we loved, made an offer, and began envisioning life within that house. We soon received a call from our realtor that there were multiple offers and ours wasn’t chosen. To say we were frustrated and disappointed, was an understatement. This mis-step wasn’t part of our plan.

We had set forth on our house hunting journey with our list of expectations, but didn’t fully include God in the planning process. We soon realized the importance of planning WITH God. We prayed and reminded ourselves that God would place us where we were meant to be. 

 “A man’s heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 

 A week or so later, we saw a house pop onto the market, and we scheduled a showing within a day of its listing. The house had great potential, checked all of our desires, and was better than the previous home we had thought we loved. We didn’t waste any time making an offer on the home that we now live and have grown our family in. As I look back on that chain of events, I clearly see God’s hand on our path and the relationships and community that have been built around the decision to make this house our home. This home brought a pathway to valued friendships, orchestrated our investment in our church community, and created a space for hospitality to others. 

This year, piercing cold, winter storms, and loss of power caused several pipes to burst within our home. The problems were minor, but required some hardy planks to be removed and replaced to repair the pipes. My husband and I found ourselves brainstorming the best way to hang the planking, each of us climbing up ladders simultaneously, side by side, while balancing the board and placing it in the appropriate spaces. The situation was stressful both physically and mentally and could have caused great frustration, but together, we were able to replace the sections that needed to be replaced. 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Psalms 127:1

Reflecting on our climbing up two ladders simultaneously gave me great perspective about the importance of being in sync with our Heavenly Father. He wants us to climb alongside Him every step of the way, because it is only WITH Him that we are able to truly see plans and blessings that God has in store for us. 

Give your plans and dreams to God, faithfully ask Him to guide your steps, and you will see the favor He has for your life. 

Dana Sitton is a wife to her best friend and favorite dancing partner, James, and mama to their fun-loving tribe of three children ages 8, 6, and 2. She is a former educator, who now enjoys spending her time seeing the world through the eyes of her own children, cooking, decorating, and writing. Dana enjoys fostering relationships and encouraging women to join in community with one another. She faithfully facilitates women’s ministry opportunities within her home church and seeks to support and inspire women with her writing via her blog and social media presence.  

Connect with Dana on through her website on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thesittonkitchen, or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thesittonkitchen/.

Photo by Sieuwert Otterloo on Unsplash