As most of you know, we put our house on the market in February. We had a "perfect" house in mind that we would be buying when ours sold. The "perfect" house sold approximately 2 weeks after the sign went in our front yard. I refused to look at houses b/c I didn't want to fall in love with another one, only to lose it too. So, we sat, we waited, and we got discouraged when our house wasn't selling. Then, it happened...the dreaded 60 day phone call....it goes something like this, "So, your house has been on the market for 60 days now..." "Yes." "Have you guys thought about lowering the price in order to keep it competitive?" "No." "We just listed another house in your neighborhood for the same price." (And who's fault is that?!?) "Okay." "Maybe you guys could talk about it over the weekend?" "Oh, okay." We talked about it, we got more discouraged, and we finally decided to lower the price, but not by much. I called and left a voicemail to get those changes going. Meanwhile, they called to show our house 3 times in 2 days. Our agent called to let us know he'd need the price change in an email b/c he couldn't change it based on a phone conversation, he needed it in writing. I tell him we've changed our minds, they showed the house 3 times in 2 days, seriously?!? He says to see the feedback and then decide what we want to do. All of the feedback says "over priced" or "needs new appliances." We agree to come down the cost of new appliances, send the email, get a phone call..."Hey there, I'm not going to lower the price of your house." "Huh?" (seriously here...it took me a week to decide this was a great idea, what are you doing?!?) "We have an offer for you." (maybe should have started with that....). "Can you be here at 5pm?" "Yes." Offer is good, 1 counter offer, house is sold!!!
Hi there....I'm homeless...and mildly frightened by that thought.
Our realtor sent us 13 homes to evaluate online and see if we wanted to see the inside of them. We liked 5 of his and found 2 of our own. We do some serious house hunting one evening. We decide to make an offer on a 4 bedroom ranch on 1.67 acres. The house needs lots of improvements to make it what we want, but we agree it has great potential (I now HATE that word....don't say it around me and definitely don't ever describe my house as having it!!!!). The night we made the offer we agreed that if they came back at full price we would walk away from it, the house needed too much work to pay full price for it. So, we make the offer, we give them almost 48 hours to reply b/c they have already relocated out of state. We hear nothing, we get in bed at midnight, I FREAK out....actually, the word FREAK is really an understatement. I lose all control of the ability to talk without crying and the ability to just be quiet and go to sleep. Matt is up until 2:30 trying to convince me we made the right choice. I am convinced we didn't and can't get control of myself....I believe I finally passed out from dehydration :-)
Drum roll as God teaches me a GREAT lesson in faith, trust, self control (tongue biting!!), and, most importantly, His ability to care for me even when I'm trying (and failing miserably) to "take care" of myself.
The next morning I wake up still crying (I'm not joking here people, it was awful!) I sit down to eat breakfast with the kids. Now, mind you, Matt is already at work and doesn't know I am still crying hysterically. The kids are inquisitive, "Mommy, are you having a bad day?" (Carson) "You cannot go to school acting like this!" (Delaney....think she's heard that before?) "This'll cheer you up..." Carson proceeds to tell all of the corny jokes Matt has taught him. The phone rings, I hold my breath as I look at the caller ID, it is the realtor. "Good morning. We have a counter offer here for you." "Okay." (It's taking everything I have to not jump through the phone to see what he's holding.) "They came back at full price." Not joking, I immediately didn't want to cry. I wanted to dance around the house singing praise songs....and so, I did!!! The kids thought I had lost it, I had kind of, in a good way!!!! Before my dancing escapade, I did mange to tell the realtor I'd talk to Matt and we'd call him later.
Doesn't God work in mysterious ways even when we don't put all of our faith in Him to provide? And doesn't that make you love Him even more, that he's protecting you even when you don't think you need it? Even when you are sure you have it all figured out.....and you don't!
4 comments:
While proofreading this post for Gretchen I told her that I'd post a comment because when she says FREAK out she doesn't just mean a remorseful kind of freaking out like what are we doing ...she means like completely and totally FREAK OUT (it would be blinking and red if I could make it that way) like I'm not sure that we will ever get the work that needs to be done on this house done, I can't live my life in such a state of flux for that long, no-one else will be happy if we move into this house! Those are the few things that I remember coming out of her mouth that night. I'm not sure that I have ever seen her like this it was almost scary. Luckily for me she is very forgiving because she has since asked me about some of the thing she said and I honestly don't remember any of them!
Matt - is it like post-traumatic stress and you've blocked out what she was screaming?? But seriously, having been in on just a little snippet of it, I am glad God gave you the neon sign (as Gretch has said) and worked it all out - and it sounds like gave a good reminder of His sovereignty too.
Gretchen thanks for sharing! Can't wait for part 2 with more details on the place you are actually excited about! So I said recently I am glad this process seemed painless to you- I take that back =) There were at least some moments of pain! I had many sleepless nights and confusing days as we figured out whether to build or not. Such big steps! Hope the inspection went well!
Waiting for part II!!
Post a Comment