SOLD!

39 days. That was all it took! A modern day miracle, in my opinion ... especially considering the lousy housing market and general condition of the economy.

God brought a wonderful buyer to us: A Baptist pastor and his wife who had a $140,000 down payment! They made their offer, we gave our counter-offer, and they accepted. WOW! They hired an inspector, as any smart homebuyer would do ... and he found only minor things such as a missing screw to affix the dishwasher to the countertop. So, we offered them a $400 credit at closing for the cost of hiring a handyman for a day to fix the very minor issues.

The buyers asked for a quick, two-week closing - and got it. Every time we spoke to our Realtors, they told us how amazed they were at how quickly the sale was progressing, and how easy the buyers were.

The only potential problem was the events on Wall Street on Monday. I was told yesterday was a rough day for home sale closings, because lending essentially froze. But ours went through and we should have the money deposited into our account this morning.

God's hand has been on the house situation since we first signed the contact to build the house in 2004. Jonathan had just graduated with his Ph.D. and was starting his new job at LANL. We were engaged and had no money for a down payment. That was during the time when lenders were doing 100% financing, so we were fortunate in the timing. A new subdivision was opening just as we were looking at homes, and we were able to get an amazing lot to build the house on. Our Realtors really liked us, and so they didn't make us pay the usual earnest deposit to hold the lot.

And it is that beautiful lot with its amazing views that got our house sold so quickly!!! We didn't make much money at all ... but, we got it sold and only had one month of having to make a mortgage payment and the rent payment on our house here in Arizona. So many people are losing their homes, and so we feel extremely blessed to have been able to sell our house at all ... and get a little money to put in the bank.

THANK YOU, GOD, FOR WATCHING OVER US!!!

Jonathan sent me this e-mail today ... I don't think he'd mind if I shared it with everybody. It kinda choked me up:

I was thinking about the house and remembering all the good times we had there. The sad thing is that it seems so brief that we were there. I was remembering our Sunday afternoon naps in the TV room with a cool breeze blowing over us. The many times in the kitchen running in to each other while we make our meals and watch the TV. Chasing Bella in the living room as she did her figure 8s around the white couch. Our time with Christian in the jet tub. Waking up in the middle of the night to feed Christian and taking the short walk to his bedroom. Seeing the sunrise reflecting in the mirror in the master bathroom. And finishing my runs stretching on the front porch looking at the view. The perpetual question, "do you want anything from down (stairs)?" I'll miss our house. It was all too brief. I Love You! Now time for some new fun memories.