We Are Blessed

Shortly after we decided to go to India, we also decided that we would go ahead and sell our house before we leave so that we don't have to worry about renting it out. When we come back to the U.S. the next year we'll just look for a different house.

We met with our realtor last Wednesday afternoon, and he wanted us to have the house ready to take pictures by Tuesday afternoon so that they could put it officially on the market on Wednesday. Needless to say, we have a bit of a panic moment thinking about getting our house market ready in under a week.

Thankfully, we are so, so blessed to have an incredible support system here in Manhattan. We sent out an SOS signal and had 8 guys (some staff and some students) come over off and on all day on Saturday to help us paint kitchen cabinets, finish projects we've left half done over the years, and clean up the yard. Three girls came and took the kids on an outing for 3 hours so that I was able to get some concentrated cleaning done. 

On Sunday God gave us a perfect 63 degree day so that we could get the outside of our house looking presentable. Another guy came over to help Kyle, and two girls came over to help me finish some cleaning. On top of that one of our other staff couples is letting us store a bunch of our stuff in their basement so that it would get rid of a lot of the clutter! 

Monday and Tuesday morning I spent every last moment decluttering, deep cleaning, and ultimately finding hiding places in drawers for things I didn't have time to find proper places for :)

The result was a cleaner, better looking house than we have ever, EVER seen before!

We are so, so thankful to have such incredible "family" here in Manhattan. This never would have been possible without our wonderful staff team and students. God has truly blessed us.

And, the even better news is, all the hard work paid off! We have such a busy semester ahead, we were praying really specifically about our house selling. In our ideal timeline, we were hoping to close on the house mid May right before we leave for Kaleo, but we were nervous that with putting the house on the market this early that the buyers would want to move in earlier. But we also didn't want to wait too much longer to put it on the market in case it took awhile to sell, and so we were just praying that we would find a buyer quickly, that they would be just the right people, that they wouldn't want to move in till May! (and a great price would be an extra bonus!)

Our house was officially placed on the market on Wednesday. That day, we had two showings - one at noon and one at 6:30 p.m. We made sure the house was looking perfect, lit some candles, and took the kids out! Thursday around lunch time, we got a call from our realtor that BOTH couples had put in offers on our house! Because there were two offers, by the time our realtor came over to our house to talk with us, he had already called back both representing realtors and told them the situation, and both resubmitted higher offers. We didn't even have to negotiate!

The offer we accepted was for $1000 above our asking price, we don't have to pay any of their closing costs, and our closing date is May 13!! God answered our prayers so specifically; we couldn't ask for a better offer! This is of course, still pending the inspection and appraisal, so we're just under contract, but we are so blessed. And as a bonus, the family buying the house was so eager to get it because the wife's parents apparently live in the cul de sac right behind us - our backyards are right by each other! So I'm extra happy that we're getting to unite a family!

And I'm also really happy that I don't have to keep my house in spotless shape for showings for the next two months :)

All in all, we are blessed. And this is such confirmation that God wants us in India, and that He will provide all we need to get there!