3rd time is NOT the charm...

So, we put an offer on yet another home. This made the 3rd offer since last October.

It was one we had seen several months ago...pretty, needed some updating here and there, but had everything we wanted, including waaay more room than we ever set out to ever look for....but it was waaay out of our price range. Well, fast forward a few months and the home has been on the market almost a year and the sellers lowered the price by quite a substantial amount which put the home IN our price range.

So, we went out to look at it. Prayed about it for a few weeks, then went to see it again. We decided to make an offer. We offered $10,000 less than the asking price. We figured that was reasonable considering it had been on the market almost a year and it would leave some bargaining ground.

So, what was the outcome, you might ask? The seller wanted $20,000 MORE than the asking price. Is that insane or what?!?! 

Sad part is, I think the seller actually EXPECTS people to come in and offer waaay more than the asking price as if it's a normal thing and WE are the crazy one's for not doing it. 

Um....no thanks. We'll pass.

Now, we are back where we started...again.

I know God has called us to foster. I know we need a 4th bedroom if we want to foster sibling groups. I just need to trust that things will work out. I don't need to get bogged down in the details of it all. We still have time an our timing may not always be God's timing. So, we are continuing to move forward with foster classes. If we don't have a home with an extra bedroom by the time we are finished, God will show us what we need to do.

Who knows...maybe our future home will pop on the market in the nick of time or maybe God will change our thinking about something...all we can do is trust....

More Uncertainty...

I feel like I have been on a roller coaster...physically and emotionally.

After missing out on buying the house we really liked last month, we considered just staying where we are. We made appointments to have contractors come out to look at doing a few remodels as well as adding in a storage building. Um...not happening!

Unless you want to do it yourself, construction costs are crazy expensive. We just can't see putting more money into a home where we would NEVER be able to recoup that cost. I mean, we love our home and the 2 acres it sits on. We've worked hard over the last 15 years to update our home and the land. It is so peaceful and quiet and flood-zone free which is a HUGE asset where we live. 

If we are going to foster though (and I'd like to foster younger sibling groups), we need another bedroom.

So, we are back to the grind looking for another house. We've found plenty of homes, but something is always lacking with the land part. I think that's what we like best about where we live now. We have cut walking and go cart/4-wheeler trails all through the back acre. We've built a solid 2-story fort/cabin in the woods for the kids that we can have actual campouts in. We have fruit trees galore with some of the best tasting satsumas on the planet. We put in an above ground pool 2 years ago and slaved endless hours building the  beautiful deck. Updated every room in the house. And more...

I know we can do all that at another home with another piece of land, but I get overwhelmed at the process of all that. I realize it took 15 years to get our current house and land to where it is today and we can do the same at the next place we call home. 

It's a process...life is a process...and with that comes much uncertainty along the way...