I've wanted to get back into a house for a while now, especially since being diagnosed again and my focus changed from "let's simplify" to "let's find a place where Mom can do her therapy!" When we moved into our condo just over two years ago, our/my priorities were totally different. But since I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, my priorities changed. I've been a gardener and a landscaper for the last 15 years. And I'm good! I can create beauty with perennials and grasses, trees and shrubs like few others I know. I work at J&J Nursery in Layton as well, and some days were just depressing because I saw all this great stuff come in that I couldn't try out.
Months ago, I started talking to Mat about getting into a house again. He felt content just staying where we are and letting someone else mow the lawn. I promised him that I wouldn't let him mow the lawn if we moved to a house! I get to mow the lawn!
I've had this inner struggle about selling the house in this neighborhood that we loved so much. I've felt guilt over lost equity (it's not just a little bit--I am not being a drama queen!) I've felt guilt over moving to Riverton and taking the kids out of the schools and environments they knew. I've felt guilt over moving back to Bountiful ... and taking the kids out of the schools and environment that they knew. I've mourned over these things for so many years, since 2013 when it all began by selling the house we loved.
I've justified in my prayers why HF should allow us to find another house, so I can do my therapy outside. I prayed that this house could be on "this" street because of everything we'd sacrificed in losing (er, I mean selling) the house we loved. I told Him I felt I might live longer if I had a garden to do my therapy in. I pictured the house, a rambler on an average sized lot right on the street I wanted to live on.
Well, God answers prayers in mysterious ways. In His own time and in His own way. When we were still on vacation, a house came on the market in our neighborhood. An offer came in right away, but as luck would have it, they ended up canceling the contract.
It's a rambler but on a corner lot. I don't want a corner lot! There's no privacy in the yard! (True) And it's not on the street I wanted to live on. But since my rockstar friend Cari was the listing agent, I went to see it. I wasn't super impressed because the house needs a lot of work and the kitchen is TINY. So I brushed it off and decided to keep looking.
On my birthday (8th) we were sitting in Cheesecake Factory. I texted Cari to see if the house was still available because Mat wanted to walk through it. Thursday morning (the 9th) we walked through the house again. We talked about what we did like about it, which is pretty much everything else besides the corner lot, the tiny kitchen and (me) not being on the right street. We felt pressured to hurry up and make a decision because in this housing market, there's no time to think about things. You gotta jump high and fast. Cari told us to go home and pray about it, and call her back, preferably within the hour. 😊
So we did. We felt good about going for it! Then the work really began because Cari had to move heaven and earth to get this deal to go through; for our buyer, for us, and for her seller. She had to write up contracts on three fronts, help coordinate funding for our buyer, stay in communication with our seller who is living out of cell phone range in Wyoming, etc. etc. At 11:00 p.m. Thursday night, she called to tell me he had accepted our offer and wasn't interested in looking at other offers that trickled in after that. He'd heard our story and just wanted to get it done. I was speechless, stunned! I couldn't believe what she was telling me! I'm telling you, for us to be able to get a house that wasn't in a multiple offer situation, is a miracle in and of itself. We can't compete with the little guys, let alone the big guys!
God heard and answered our prayers. Thursday morning we're casual lookers, Thursday night our offer is signed, with a three week close no less! We should have this wrapped up by the end of August. Unbelievable! When we have the faith to take the first step into the darkness, God comes and snatches you up and answers your prayers in ways you never thought imaginable. I couldn't have come up with a better ending than this, but God who knows all things for our good, opened this opportunity up for us. And with the help of a determined, hard-working realtor, everything has fallen into place just as it needed to. For that, I'm very grateful.
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