You are Not Forgotten! Don't Give Up!

Saying good bye to our first house.

Sometimes when you meet people and start talking to them, you get that feeling that you just get each other. You click! Last week, at Wylie's last soccer game, a woman on the sidelines watched me arrive at the game with my bunch of kids plus a couple extra. I probably looked like a frazzled mess because we were running late and I'm hauling all these kids around while hugely pregnant. It's a good look...just saying. After we settled down on the sidelines she came up to me and asked me if this would be baby number 7 or 8. I explained it was 7 but some of the kids with me at that moment weren't mine. She smiled with understanding and told me she had 8 kids.

Keep Trying!

We continued to talk for a while about coming from big families, raising big families, getting counted in public, transitioning to a 12 passenger van, and all the funny and rude things that come with carting around a million kids. Then she mentioned that when people in the neighborhood come over to their house she always feels bad because the previous owners had no children at home anymore and the house was always kept so clean and nice. Now she feels like it's always a mess with all her kids. I laughed and told her I felt the same way! The previous owner's of our house kept things so nice. I feel like I can't keep up with house work, yard work, and the the kid's stuff too! 

Don't Give Up!

I asked her where they lived, realizing she was also newer to our little town. When she explained where and told me the address, I suddenly new exactly what house she was talking about. I had walked through that house several times over 2 days while it was for sale. We had made an offer on that house! Our old house was not quite listed on the market yet though. Our offer was not accepted because our house was not listed yet and other offers made, had no contingencies. 

Never Ending Packing

This house was a turning point in our moving and house hunting experience though. Up to this point we had been looking anywhere in the valley. I thought that Heavenly Father wanted us somewhere and I was willing to go wherever he wanted our family...so we looked everywhere! After seeing this other house that we didn't end up getting, I fell more in love with this area. This has always been my favorite area, but now it was even more so. I had a long "talk" (prayer) with Heavenly Father about how much I loved this area. I told him in prayer that if it's my choice, I wanted to live in this area. The thought came to mind, "then why are you looking everywhere else?"

Almost moving day so let's play in the empty truck first!

I decided to forget everything I wanted in a house and just simply do a search for houses in this area that had how many bedrooms we needed for our growing family. I came up with three results. One house, had been pointed out to me by a friend and my sister. I judged the house by the pictures and never wanted to see it. It looked like the kitchen and living room just weren't big enough in the pictures online. I was surprised it was still on the market because houses had been going so fast at this point in time. If you found a house you liked, you needed to make an offer that very day and hope your offer was accepted above other offers made. It was common for a house to be put under contract within a week if not the same day as being listed! It was crazy and frustrating and house prices were going up so fast!

Still Trying!

We decided to see the three houses that popped up in our search. Two out of three were definite no's. This house, our house, the one that looked "to small" in some areas was the perfect lay out. Perfect yard and perfect area. But, I did not like the kitchen and laundry areas. I felt it was to small for our big family although everything else was perfect. I said no and figured that was the end of that. I am a very heavy sleeper and don't usually have a hard time falling asleep. That night I could not go to sleep. My mind wouldn't turn off. I kept thinking about this house. The thought, "Heavenly Father won't let us make the wrong decision" kept coming to mind over and over. Somewhere around 4 o'clock in the morning I realized that maybe this was Heavenly Father telling me that we had made the wrong decision. Well, if no is the wrong decision then the only other decision would be yes! I got up and typed my whole thought process out in text message to Greg and to our awesome realtor, Rich Fry. I ended by telling them that I think we needed to see the house again and re-evaluate. I finally was able to go to sleep, wake up at 7 a.m. to hit send, and go back to sleep.

Endless Packing

Oh what fun it is to make a box tunnel while unpacking!

We went back the next day and I felt like I was seeing this house with new eyes. It was exactly what we needed. It was exactly what I wanted. I knew this was our house. We made an offer and it was NOT accepted because at this point our house was listed for sale but was not under contract to be sold yet. They did not want to accept our offer without our house being under contract first. I was crushed. I thought for sure that we would lose this house. Our own house was in a popular college rental area. Most houses there were renting out the upstairs and downstairs like a duplex. Originally we did this too, but as our family grew we took up the whole house and took out the downstairs kitchen due to a flood. We bought our first house as a family of 3 and we sold that house as a family of 8 bursting at it's seams!

Camping out in the new house living room as we move in!

After several weeks of people walking through and just wanting to buy it as a rental already ready to go without doing any work themselves, we put the 2nd kitchen back in downstairs. In the meantime, our house we offered to buy, hadn't gone anywhere! I thought it was a miracle! It was. Everyone was baffled by this. The owners' lowered the price of their house about the same time we finished putting the kitchen back in the downstairs of our own house. Our house was under contract within 2 days of that. We re-offered on the house we wanted. With our house now under contract they accepted this time. I felt like Heavenly Father was watching out for us. I felt like He saved this house for our family. I felt as if he allowed me to choose where we wanted to live and He helped us know that this was the right decision and where He wanted us to be. I felt incredibly blessed and loved. As we went through our move and started to meet people in the neighborhood, I felt this decision was right and has been confirmed over and over.

Arriving to the closing for selling our house and buying our next house!

Anyways, back to the original start of this story. Talking to this woman reminded me of this time period in life where I felt like nothing was working out in our favor. We were searching and coming up with dead ends. I felt crushed over and over. I felt like we were trying to make the right decisions and kept coming up empty. Looking back now, I know that Heavenly Father led us every step of the way through that process. He knew what was best for us even more than we did. He loves us. Even when I thought all was lost or not going to work out, He made things work out for the better. In my opinion, He saved this house for us and that in itself was a miracle. My miracle.

Our Home

The more recent miracle happened when I had this conversation with this woman on the sidelines of that soccer field. I needed this reminder that Heavenly Father has the bigger picture in mind and that He knows what it best for us. That when it seems like nothing is working out and you are crushed and defeated...all is not lost. He knows you. He's teaching you. He loves you. He is there for you. It will work out. It's going to be OK. I wanted to tell her how much I needed this reminder in life right now. Everything will be OK. It's going to work out. I am not forgotten. You are not forgotten.

Never Giving Up