Offer

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions!  But let's start from the very beginning.  We had a showing on Monday evening, which happened to be the day before Charlie started his new job in Denver.  We got Fazoli's for dinner at the drive-thru and then took it to the park for a picnic.  We unloaded the food and the dog from the car and got settled at the picnic table.  We served the kids first then served ourselves, said a prayer and started eating.  Half way through the meal I said, "Where's Genie?".  WE HAD LEFT HER IN THE CAR!!  It had to have been a good 15 min. if not more.  Luckily it wasn't a hot evening and she seemed to be just fine.  The funny thing is though, once I said that, Kenzie was like, "oh yeah, I wondered that too but I just thought you wanted to leave her in the car so I didn't say anything."  Poor fourth and forgotten child!!

The next morning we all said our good-byes to Charlie as he headed up north to meet with his new boss and learn his new duties.  Dallin gave Char a big long hug before heading off to school, it was really sweet.  He also offered a prayer in the car that was really heartfelt, asking that our house could sell fast so that our family could be together.

While we were enjoying our picnic dinner two nights before and completely neglecting our child, a couple was looking at our house and apparently fell in love with it enough to give us an offer!! Wednesday afternoon our realtor called to tell me the good (and bad) news.  The good news was we had an offer...the bad news was it was a pretty low offer; $30,000 lower than the asking price!  Of course I immediately called Charlie to tell him the news.  At first we were really ticked!  How could they give us such a low-ball offer?  We were almost insulted.  We decided to counter their offer dropping $10,000 off the asking price.  They then countered that offer and went up only $5,000 from their original offer...still $25,000 less than asking price.  Really?  They only came up $5,000 when we were going down $10,000 and we'd already dropped the price previously?

We had a lot to think about.  What we thought we could walk away with on the home was now shrinking considerably and reality was starting to set in.  Perhaps we really needed to swallow our pride and get rid of any personal attachments we had to our house and see it for what it is.  I had to continually remind myself that our house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.  Did we want to hold off and hope for another higher offer to come along?  All the while our family is torn apart?  Did we really want to squabble over a few thousand dollars that we never had to begin with?  But at the same time knowing that what we got out of this house greatly determines our future home in which we plan to live in for a long time.

After thinking it through and meeting with our realtor, we determined that it would be better to compromise than lose the buyer not knowing when another buyer might come along.  So we came up with a number that we decided we could live with and that the buyers could live with.  The papers have all been signed and things are set in motion to close on October 31!

I feel so overwhelmed by the amount of support and prayers that have been said in our behalf.  My testimony in the power of prayer has grown immensely.  I thought that it didn't really matter if one person prayed or 100 people prayed, God would still go through with his plan for you.  And while that might be true in some cases, I have learned how much I NEED prayer.  God will do what God will do, but knowing that friends and family are including me and my family in their prayers has lifted my spirits, given me hope, and an abundance of strength.  It was truly amazing to me, everyone that I talked to would tell me they are praying for us, or they added our family to the prayer rolls in the temple, or we included you guys in our fast.  I also have felt great support from my siblings.  They have ALL called me (or texted) to check in on me and give me their support.

Selling our house in 3 months in this market in this area is nothing short of a miracle.  Most homes in our area take at least 150 days to sell!  I know that this is all happening for a reason and that Heavenly Father is mindful of our family.  I have felt his loving comfort many times as I have stressed out about keeping things cleaned or making the best decisions.  He's reminded me of his presence and that everything will all work out.  And so far it has!  It's always scary to assume everything will go as planned from here on out because you just never know, but whatever happens will be what's right for us.  And I'm thankful for that knowledge.