By Denice Wallace

The Law of Gestation teaches that for any idea to grow, it must first be planted, nourished, and then given the proper amount of time to come to life. In the story that follows, you’ll see how powerfully the Law of Gestation played out in our lives—and how easily we could’ve uprooted the seed before it ever had the chance to grow. But because we held on and didn’t give in to doubt, we ended up exactly where we needed to be.

We knew we were heading into a new chapter—an adventure to live in Hawaii. So, before we left, we sat down and wrote out our stories. We were incredibly specific about the kind of life we wanted to create once we arrived, including the type of home we hoped to find. When it was finally time to make the move, we were given 30 days in a hotel to find permanent housing. Our original plan was to live in military housing, but when we registered, we were told it would be 3 to 6 months before any homes would be available. We were placed on a waiting list.

At that point, we had already been without a home for 2 months, and my kids had been out of school for one. So, we started searching for a rental that would meet our needs. After three weeks, we still hadn’t found anything. Every option either gave us a bad feeling, didn’t allow pets, or was already under contract before we could apply.

I began to feel defeated. Doubt crept in, and I started to wonder if these Laws we believed in actually worked. Still, I did my best to stay hopeful and keep a knowing attitude that everything would somehow work out. We had exhausted every available listing—until one day, in a last-ditch effort, I opened Zillow hoping something new had popped up. To my shock, a new listing had just gone live. As I read through the description, I couldn’t believe it. It matched exactly what my husband and I had written down in our stories.

We went to see the house immediately. Sure enough, it had every feature we had envisioned—even the 3-car garage and six bedrooms. It was everything we had described. The only thing it didn’t have was a decent outdoor area—just a small front patio. It was also a split-level home with another family living downstairs, which is common in Hawaii. I wasn’t thrilled about the neighborhood, but we didn’t have any bad feelings either. A few friendly neighbors came out to greet us, which helped ease my concerns.

Around the corner, we found a park with a pool and basketball courts, which we felt made up for the lack of a yard. Not wanting to repeat the mistake of losing out on a home we liked, we prayed, talked it over, and moved forward. We asked the landlord if we could move in immediately. He rushed our background checks, and we had our furniture delivered just three days before Christmas. After three long months of being homeless, we were beyond grateful to finally have a home.

But within a month, I began to seriously question if we had made the right decision. The house was crawling with roaches and ants. Because of the layout, it felt like I was living in a cave. The family below us had a newborn, and with my three energetic boys, I found myself constantly yelling at them to be quiet. My husband’s commute ended up being over an hour each way—he was leaving before sunrise and coming home after dark.

Then my oldest son started begging me to take him off the school bus. The kids smoked at the stop, played loud, harsh music, and used language that made him uncomfortable. I couldn’t drive him due to conflicting drop-offs with my younger kids, so I gave him a phone and headset so he could listen to his own music. Even then, he would come home crying nearly every day. He didn’t feel like he fit in at all.

After a month and a half, things were getting unbearable. I started questioning how we could possibly last a whole year in that house and how I could have been so wrong about it feeling like the right move. The final straw came when my fifth grader came home and told me some kids had asked if he did weed—he didn’t even know what that was. I felt helpless.

We were living in Hawaii, what was supposed to be paradise! I had prayed about that home. I felt it was right. I just didn’t understand. Still, I kept trying to stay positive and look for the good.

Then one morning, during a massive rainstorm, the roof started leaking badly. I took photos, sent them to the landlord, put a bowl under the drip, and jumped in the shower. As I reached for the shampoo, a giant cockroach darted out from behind the bottle. That was it. I broke. I sobbed and called my husband. Half-joking, I said, “Call military housing and see if anything’s opened up.”

He called—and about 30 minutes later, he told me, “They actually do have a five-bedroom available, and it’s only five minutes from my work.” I couldn’t believe it. We went to look at it, figuring at the very least it would be a good dream-building session for when our lease was up.

But the moment I drove into the neighborhood, I felt like I was home. Touring the house felt surreal. It had everything we had originally envisioned—including the yard for entertaining. Kids were everywhere—riding bikes, laughing, playing together. I felt that same deep confirmation and joy we’d felt when we first wrote our stories.

We were told we had to make a decision on the spot—homes like that don’t stay available for long. So, we said yes. But then the questions started flooding in. What about the lease we had just signed? Would we be able to get out of it? How would we move again so soon? There were so many unknowns. I felt every emotion—joy, fear, doubt, hope.

In the end, we chose to trust that it would all work out. We created a new story, one filled with peace and excitement for this new chapter. It wasn’t easy. There were hurdles with moving, the lease, finances, and logistics. But somehow, everything lined up—and we made it. We’re home, and we know we’re exactly where we’re meant to be.

Looking back, it’s so clear that God’s hand was guiding everything. We planted the seed of our dream four months before arriving in Hawaii. But the home wasn’t ready for us yet. We had to be led through an experience that became so uncomfortable, it pushed us to ask one more time if something better had opened up.

So many small miracles and perfectly timed events had to happen—way beyond anything we could’ve orchestrated ourselves. From getting out of the lease, to having the help and funds we needed to move, it all came together in a way that confirmed what we believed from the start: we planted the seed and waited—and the Law of Gestation did the rest.

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