Have you ever been in a Valley Season? You know one of seasons where it seems like NOTHING has gone right? 2023 was a Mountain top year where everything fell into place. God was moving and life was just good. 2024 has been a Valley season for us. It’s been a low, where we have questioned all of our choices. I have asked God repeatedly this year why did you bring me here? Where do we go from here? You brought us here now what?
January was okay. We started looking into buying a house and settling down. February was spent also looking at houses. We found the one we wanted and on March 1st, Jeremy went to pay our deposit money and was rear ended and resulted in a totaled car. Has anyone ever tried buying a house and a car at the same time? It was seriously bad timing. I highly recommend not trying to buy a car while purchasing a house but if you ever end up in a situation where you have no choice, then transparency is key.
1. You better have a good reason.
2. You absolutely can buy a house and car at the same time, but you can’t buy the car until the loan has a zero balance (which is where got stuck waiting for gap to cover the remaining 2k of the loan)
3. Your debt to income cannot increase due to a car loan ( payment must stay the same or below).
4. Work closely with your loan officer and make sure you have a good one that actually cares about your situation and that can see the whole picture and not just 
. Your loan officer will tell you exactly how much you can afford. They want you to close on the house so they can get paid too…it’s their job.
God works even in the Valleys. We got cleared to close on our home while we were standing there in the dealership looking at used cars. We purchased the car the same day.
We took a major financial hit as we were preparing to move into this home. We were not expected to move out of the rental house for another month and we had to maintain that place too on top of the getting the new house ready for move in. It was lot of work and money spent but we were moved in by April 5th.
The last weekend in May we went to the Blue Crab festival in Palatka. We had a great family day but when we woke up the next day, we woke to a drained-out bank account. My debit card had been compromised from the festival. Once again, we took a huge financial hit. This just so happened to be the weekend before my daughter’s birthday. Thank fully our bank helped us and we were able to recoup our money it still took a month to get it all straightened. Let’s just say it’s been a tight year.
We have struggled mentally and emotionally. We have struggled financially the most. My daughter started a new school which turned out to not work out and we ended up pulling her out and homeschooling. The rest of the year has been ups and downs with our jobs. I failed my licensing exams which took me out of the promotion I came here for. My husband’s job well let’s just say he is currently unemployed. It’s almost Christmas and he hasn’t started his new job yet.
I’d like to say that I just left it in God’s hands which I have, but it hasn’t been easy. This month has made me sweat the small stuff for sure. There is one thing that has remained the same is that God is still the same in this Valley as He was on our mountain top. This Valley has allowed me to begin to dream again. It has brought out a passion for creating again. This financial struggle has allowed me to enjoy being the homesteading momma I have always dreamed about. We grew our own garden which also taught me a few things. I learned to be frugal and make due with what we have. It’s taught me new kitchen skills and brought back a passion for cooking and baking again. Most of all this Valley has taught me to not to put my trust in humans. My husband will let me down. My boss will let me down, my kids will let me down, even my pastor will let me down at one time or another. So trust God and when you have done all that you can do, just stand and wait on the Lord. He will see you through.