Many people, whether religious or not, have heard about putting a statue of St. Joseph in our yards to help us sell our houses. Some claim it’s superstitious or think it’s a hoax. Some truly believe in this ritual. For me, I indulged my mom’s emphatic believe and buried a St. Joseph statue in our yard.

In today’s real estate market, I knew without a doubt that we would sell our house. I wasn’t worried at all. To put this into perspective, I worry about everything so for me not to be worried about selling our house is a big indication that real estate is crazy these days.

Instead, what I was worried about was WHO would buy our house. I love my neighbors and I wanted to make sure good people bought our house. I worried the house would be sold to someone who would only buy it for investment purposes therefore taking it off the market from a young family who would appreciate the location, space and actually “growing up” in it like we did.

These worries motivated me to go along with my mom’s request to involve St. Joseph with our move. My mom had ordered a statue of the saint (because she was worried we wouldn’t sell the house). The statue came with explicit instructions: bury the statue upside down and facing the house. Ok, we did that. Have faith that it will work. Ok, we had faith. Pray the enclosed prayer daily until the house sold. For me, this part was a commitment but from the first day we buried St. Joseph until the ink was dry on the closing documents, I prayed the prayer every day (I missed one day).

In this specific prayer there is a chance to insert our own personal intentions. We could add anything we want at a designated time. My intentions were the same from Day 1 until the closing date for both the house we sold and the house we bought - June 25, 2021. In this order I would ask St. Joseph for the following:

1. That the buyers of our house be served well by the house we loved so much.

2. That our new house will serve us well and be a place of safety, love, joy and good health and in a neighborhood we love.

3. That my mom finds a place where she will feel safe, healthy and happy.

On June 26, 2021, the day after I did not have to pray anymore, I felt like I was forgetting something. I had prayed the prayer for so many days that I felt a void. Nonetheless, I put the prayer cards away because I decided that my prayers were heard and praying the specific prayer(s) was no longer valid. At this point, it was time to sit back and watch for the blessings.

While we were on vacation, I heard from my beloved neighbors; they met the new owners of our house and said very nice things about them. This was a big relief! Shortly after, I received a really nice email directly from the new owners. I felt an instant warmness in my heart that my first intention was answered. The new owners have a four year old son and they will welcome a daughter in November. The news made me so happy.

Also, while on vacation, the previous owners of our new house were so gracious and extremely accommodating after the closing. They allowed me to send in vendors into the house while they were still living there - helping in any way to make it easy. The days before they moved out, they went over details with notes on how things work in the house, codes, systems etc. The couple was very generous with their time, information and the plants and tomatoes they left for us. I could give credit to luck for a great transaction with them but I do think prayer is a bigger part of it. Another blessing that we found out after we bought the house is that we know a family from CA who lives a few houses away. The chances of that are slim AND the chances that this family loves to celebrate holidays and themes is even slimmer. Oktoberfest plans are already in motion!

My last request of St. Joseph to help my prayers be heard could not have worked out any better. We found a place for my mom in CA which is four minutes from the church that she loves to attend daily and six minutes away from my brother. Her new apartment will be newly updated and she is walking distance to the grocery store, her bank , restaurants and a movie theater. All of these features, the timing of an available apartment and the rent still within her budget, was it luck? Maybe but I’m thinking St, Joe had something to do with it. The day after we found the place for her and I was already back in MN, I heard a change in my mom’s voice when she called me. She was happy.

Praying an old school prayer every day, following the instructions in the St. Joseph kit and having faith may be a hoax. But for me, I complied when I wanted to sell our house. I didn’t pray to make lots of money from our sale. I didn’t pray for us to buy the perfect house. I didn’t pray for a one-day sale with multiple offers. In fact, we had some surprise hiccups on both sides; both in the sale of our house and once we bought our new house. I could easily be upset. I could seek legal council. But I know that in the end, everything I asked for was given to me. I have already won. It may sound like I’m delusional, living a fairy tale or wearing rose colored glasses. However, if I hold onto all that went wrong, it doesn’t leave room for what I really want to come in.

When the movers packed up our house in MN, they left behind a drawer full of my new Broncos items and my son’s sports card collection. For us, these are pretty important things. So I wrote the previous owners because I thought the movers (same company) had forgotten to pack up their 1/2 bathroom and wanted to let them know. The couple replied that they purposely left behind soap, toilet paper, decorative disposable hand towels, a candle and a trash can because she thought it would be helpful to have that room ready to use during the move. What a thoughtful pinch! I am copying this gesture for sure. I replied with a big thank you and I enclosed a picture from our first day at our house with my family sitting on our new front steps. They said that the picture made them feel great because they had prayed for a family to live in their house.

Moving prayers; they work.

Pinches,

Barb