On the morning of February 16 I sent out an “invitation to special prayer” regarding our Atlanta house hunt. On my lunch break that day I spotted a house that had just been listed for sale that same morning. Unlike any house I had spotted for several months, this one seemed to be a good match for our ideal criteria. Given the timing, I couldn’t help wondering: Is this the answer to our prayers?

The days since have been full of nothing. Full of waiting, that is. We were waiting on responses from the seller’s agent… and he was apparently waiting on a house key from the owner… who reportedly was waiting on the renter to provide a copy of the key… since the owner had lost hers. Some of you have been following my blow-by-blow commentary on Facebook. Finally, yesterday, the log jam started truly moving.

Today we finally placed an offer on that house. However, our offer was not accepted.

What does this mean? Several things could happen:

  • We could receive a counter-offer from the seller tonight or tomorrow.
  • The seller might not respond to us at all, especially if they have received another offer they prefer.
  • We may try again with a bigger offer.
  • Regardless, our realtor will be contacting the seller’s agent in the morning to see what we can learn.

If we do come to an agreement with the seller over a purchase price, then we will have some busy days ahead! There will be a “due diligence” period of about a week. During that time, the house will need to be inspected, with an assessment of the cost of any needed repairs. We will need to decide if it is indeed a good match for us. Then, if it is a good match, we will need to process the paperwork to close on the house.

Thankfully, closing should be less complicated than sometimes, since we plan to make a cash purchase—thanks to many of you! If we can secure this house, our realtor says closing could come yet before the end of this month—maybe even within two weeks. We actually might own a home before we start making our promised “mortgages payments” in April!

Is our Atlanta house hunt nearing an end? (And will Steve and Christy Smucker finally see our promising words translate into actions?) We don’t know. But we do know that our God is strong, and wise, and good. He will answer our prayers in the best possible way.

And we also know that your prayers and words (and emails and “likes” on Facebook) have been strengthening our hearts as we wait on God’s perfect timing. So, once again, we say Thank You!

Please continue to pray with us as we continue our attempt to purchase this house! This house seems like it could be a very good fit—even better than the one we wanted last fall. We would dearly love for this to be the one…  May God’s will be done. (Please pray also for the renter, who has lived there for over 5 years and may soon be looking for another home.)

For Christ and his Church,
Dwight and the Gingrich tribe

PS: Once we indeed close on a house, then I will joyfully share some pictures and links with you all. Until then, please be patient as we try to avoid leaving the illusion that several hundred people are all interested in “our” house! If the seller sees that much “demand,” we might all be reaching deeper into our pockets…