House Hunting — Kurdistan Edition

A story of the Lord providing… again.

When our family arrived in Kurdistan we were overwhelmingly blessed to be invited to stay in the home of an American family that had just left on a home visit. I remember it clearly despite it being 3 am when we walked in the door.

We could hardly believe our eyes. The home had so many familiar touches that we felt comfortable almost instantly. There was an incredible coffee station. Next to that was a book of prayers “Every Moment Holy” that had in recent months become a dear book to our family. And a huge wood + resin dining table that made me feel like I was back at Carved.

We were excited to be able to call this place “home” for the next several weeks while we looked for our own place to live. Little did we know the Lord was already quickly working on our behalf in the matter.

Within eight days of arriving, as I was walking down the street we were currently living on, I saw the house pictured above. I of course could not read what the sign said, but I could get the feeling from the scene that this house was for rent. I looked up the Arabic numbers, translated them, and gave the number a call.

Luckily, that man on the other end spoke perfect English and said I could go right down and see the house. His contractor should be at the house and would be able to let me in and show me around. That is exactly what happened. It was a great-looking house. Very clean, new light and electrical fixtures, new shower units, just the right number of rooms, and a rooftop that had great potential. Things were looking good, nay they were looking great!

Naturally, without having Tiffany there I was in no position to commit to anything. I took several pictures and was excited to show them to Tiffany. She was slightly less thrilled than I was and as I looked at the pictures I could tell they were not doing the house justice. But more than that, I think we both didn’t want to feel like we were rushing into any decision.

This was basically our first-week in-country and the first house we had seen. But did that mean this was not from the Lord? Wasn’t He capable of giving us a good gift? Did we really have to go see other houses in order to compare and make our logical (“spirit-led”) decision? These were the questions running through our minds.

We knew there was only one thing to do. Ask the Lord. One night I was explaining the situation and all the questions and feelings surrounding the house decision to Ryan. Then I told him we need to pray and ask the Lord. We prayed and Ryan said the Lord told him we should wait six days.

The next day we were praying again and I asked Ryan to pray again. He said, “Why? Yesterday the Lord said to wait six days.” “Okay,” I said. It was all very straightforward for him. And it really helped me to relax too. Things were moving “fast” and I figured maybe we would see another house or two during those six days and it would make it clear, this house was for us.

Two days later the house was rented out.

By then Tiff and I had really let our hearts get into liking the idea of living in that house. We were very disappointed.

We tried to get over this feeling of disappointment but it was hanging around. I really couldn’t tell if I missed it or not. The photo below is how I wrestled it out in my journal:(raw emotion)

BUT… Ryan said the Lord told him we should wait 6 days. The Lord was really pressing us to trust this word.

Also at a prayer meeting that week the Lord spoke to Tiff and said, “I still have a good gift for you.”

Fast forward a couple of days, now we are on day 6 of the waiting. That day I had sent the owner of the house we are staying in a message concerning something about his house. I mentioned in that message how we missed out on being neighbors and that we were feeling a bit bummed about that.

I was up late that day having a phone call with a friend back in the States. We are seven hours ahead here and it passed midnight during our conversation. After I hung up from that call I had a message from the home owner. It was probably 12:10am.

Ten minutes after “waiting 6 days” I had a message from the home owner explaining that there was a high, very high, possibility that the Lord was calling his family into a new season. AND that this house would be available and that they would love for us to take this house!!!!

We were (and still are) completely blown away by this message. Wow! How could it be? Lord!! How did you do that? We never, not once, thought this would be a possible home for us. We were simply enjoying the few weeks the Lord was giving us in this house. We knew, and many people told us, this is the nicest house in the neighborhood.

It’s true! The family who has lived here for the past 3 years have done a lot of hard work fixing the house up. And just adding beautiful touches to make the house really great. It has a beautiful kitchen which Tiffany absolutely loves and makes great use of!!

We had to keep this information to ourselves for some time while the family got a confirmation from the Lord and shared it with their family and friends. We held the whole idea loosely in our hands and simply trusted the Lord would continue to overwhelm us with His generous provision.

We have now received the confirmation from the family and they have begun to share with their family and friends. Obviously, there is a whole other story of how the Lord has led them through this transition. And while I don’t know any of that story I can be sure it is full of miraculous provision from the Lord.

Perhaps the real question here is, how come we are still so surprised by the Lord’s faithfulness and generosity? It only takes a few seconds to think back to a lifetime of provision from the Lord. Yet I can still doubt. Thank you Lord for your loving faithfulness.

We need to move out for about 6 to 8 weeks while the family comes back and packs up. We will have the privilege of staying with David and Julie during this time.

And lastly, this is the blessing that keeps on blessing. The family has expressed a desire to sell many of the things in the home to us after they come and collect their personal belongings. This is HUGE for us. If we were to have found another house to move into we would have had a large expense in both time and money to furnish it.

This is still their house full of their things. Therefore, I have not included any more photos of the place. Once it is ours we will give you a tour. ;-) (I’ve published some content of the house in Telegram if you can’t wait and want a sneak peak)