Wrench in the Plans

Last night we discovered that there is another offer on the house we bid on Friday. It's kind of funny how this news affected me. Earlier last week Duane and I thought we had found our house, but the second walk thru showed a lot of problems we completely missed (or dismissed) the first time around. The house we bid on was on our OK list, but until we saw it again on Friday, it wasn't necessarily on the top of the heap.

Now the idea of not getting it really shakes us up. We have both been doing some decorating in our minds and seeing what some cosmetic work could really do to the place. The thought that someone else wants it makes me feel sick.

And of course, we have no way of knowing what their offer was. Well, we know that it isn't contingent anything the way ours is contingent on the sale of our house (slated to close Nov. 30th). We talked to our realtor last night and decided that the best way to handle it was to verbally give our absolute best offer, then officially submit it in writing today. Basically by submitting our best offer, we are saying "This is it from us. We aren't going to negotiate for weeks or get into a bidding war." 

It might seem a little radical to submit our absolute best offer at this point, but there were several things motivating our decision. I do not handle stress well, which is not a big surprise to any of my readers. We do not want this to go on and on. Our realtor says this offer shows how serious we are and, quite frankly, if they don't sell it to us at our best offer, they were never going to sell it to us. After we came back with our best offer, I immediately felt better. It was like I had given everything I could and it is no longer in my hands. I actually felt some peace.

So now we continue to wait.  Duane is able to pretty much let go and I wish I could so the same. My first instinct is to immediately come up with a plan B. I have already found a couple other houses I wouldn't mind looking at if our offer falls through. I am mentally finding a place for our cats to live and thinking about where we'd store furniture while we bunked with my parents for awhile. None of it is ideal, but I feel better if I think I have a game plan.

The bidding war is our of hands now. And I'm good with that. One of our pastors reminds us that God's plans are not always our plans and His time is not necessiarly our time. I cannot force this issue, no matter how much I may want to. It wouldn't do any good. I do believe God has a plan for us and He wants what is good for us. I'm trying very hard to pray instead of stress, even though stressing is my first instinct in situations like this. So I ask for your prayers, and if you are not a praying person, I ask for your good thoughts.

Deep down I know it all be okay no matter what happens.