One Step at a Time

Shelly was broke and desperate to get her son the help he needed from a treatment facility at a price tag of $102,000. This is the story of how she used the Rare Faith principles to make it happen:

To begin with, Shelly learned that there was an opportunity to attend Genius Bootcamp on scholarship, because a donor had offered to help someone in need. She wrote:

Hi Leslie,

I saw your post about the Genius Bootcamp coming up… I didn’t think it was a possibility because I recently got divorced, and I am living with my parents temporarily. …I didn’t feel like I could leave them with my six kids because they are older and already a bit worn out with all the extra work my family presents.I realized my kids’ dad is coming from Colorado to Utah that same weekend to take the kids for a few days. This means I no longer have to worry about the kids…

Financially it would be tight, but I think I could make it work… I would need the bootcamp ticket and travel funds. I am most hesitant about telling my parents what I am doing. I am trying to pay off debt, and am depending on them more than an adult should, so I am worried that they won’t understand and will be upset. They don’t believe in seminars and trying to improve things through thought. They definitely believe in faith, but not so much when it comes to money. They are doing fine financially at this point in their lives, but money was a constant struggle and negative spot while I was growing up. 

I think this is what I need to do so that I can learn to come up with the genius ideas that will help me bring in the abundance I need to support myself and my children, especially now as a single mom. My ex-husband provides very little for the kids, so there is a large financial burden on me, and I know there is a way to alleviate that burden. I already have so many ideas, but I just don’t know which one to focus on or how they would work.

Shelly was granted the scholarship and made the trip:

I attended the Genius Bootcamp, and I had an amazing experience. I received the inspiration I was looking for, although it was far from anything I had imagined it would be.

I am hitting some kind of block now, though, and I hoped maybe you could give me some advice. If you would rather I ask my question in the Mindset Mastery group, I can do that. I am on week 10 in the course and hope to get to my midterm soon. This matter is becoming rather time sensitive, though, and I am trying very hard to have faith in my inspiration and gut feelings and avoid doubt.

I went to the bootcamp with two questions:

1. How could I get my 16 year old son the professional help he needs to reach his potential, and…
2. How could I refinance my home into my name alone?

(I had just come out of a divorce, and several factors such as poor credit, high debt, and low income since I had only recently started working part time, made refinancing seem impossible.)

During one of the exercises, I had an idea, that I was certain was inspiration. It came so powerfully that I began to cry, and I am crying again just thinking about it. I knew that the answer to my problem was to sell my home and use the profits to put my son in the rehabilitation facility I had found that seemed perfect for his needs, and also pay off my debts. I could then work full time to earn a good income, and without my past debt, I would eventually be able to buy another home.

I admit that one reason I was crying was out of sorrow because my children and I loved our home so much. I couldn’t bear to think about giving it up or telling my children we would not be moving back to the one place they felt comfortable and safe. It felt right, though, and although I cried with some of my kids when I told them, they accepted it and supported me. The more I worked towards this, the better it felt, and I saw all the wisdom in the course I was following.

At first it felt like everything was falling perfectly into place. I had renters with 9 months left on their lease, and they mainly spoke Spanish. Through following impressions, I was able to find a person whom I thought was the perfect realtor for me. She spoke Spanish, and she helped explain to my renters why I had to sell, and helped them get to a new place that they were happy with.

They actually ended up leaving at the end of March, which previously seemed impossible. My realtor also helped me with contacts she knew to get the home fixed up and looking amazing when I decided I needed to do that.

I also applied to the school for my son, and he was accepted with a partial scholarship. I was so certain when I put my home on the market, that it would sell quickly, but we only received one offer, for almost 100K less than I was asking. My home is in an amazing location, too. We have had so much interest and people saying they want to put an offer in, but they never do. I had also visualized the outcome I wanted and felt lots of gratitude and emotion. I was so certain the home was going to sell quickly. 

Since the home did not sell after a month on the market, I decided that maybe I needed to fix it up more because when we first listed it, it was kind of trashed from the renters. I borrowed money from my parents to fix holes and paint the entire home. I also replaced all the carpet on the main floor, where it needed it the most. I found amazing deals on everything, and I continued to feel like I was being guided and directed.

When all the repairs were finished, and the yard was landscaped, it honestly looked like the nicest house on the block, but it is still just sitting there with no offers. It is priced 4K over what a neighbor’s home just appraised for last month, so it is definitely priced fairly and competitively. 

As I have struggled to keep my thoughts positive and keep the outcome I want in my mind, I continue to feel deep down that God has a hand in this, but I am having a hard time trusting my impressions.

I keep thinking it is my fault that it’s not selling because I don’t have enough faith. What if Heavenly Father just wanted to make sure I was willing to do what he asked, and he is actually going to let me keep it?

That idea worries me, because I am in more debt to my parents now, and I had set my heart upon getting out of debt and getting my son into this school, both of which I was sure were Heavenly Father’s will. I am also struggling a bit to make mortgage payments without the renters in the home. I have made a goal statement about being happy and grateful the home is sold by mid April, then end of April, then end of May.

I keep having to push the date back in my statements.

Do you think I am doing anything wrong, or is my doubt of my impressions the only problem? I am trying so hard to push them away and choose to believe. 

Thank you for your time and teachings and advice, whether or not you have time to respond directly to this. Sincerely, Shelly Webb  

I was not able to respond to her directly at the time, but she had a conversation with one of her Guided Mindset Mastery program leaders. In a follow up to that conversation, her leader reminded her, “It was so great speaking with you today. I know things are moving on your behalf. Please keep us posted and feel free to reach out to me if you need anything.”

Then, just almost a full year later, she sent this follow-up:

I have been wanting to send you the end of my story for awhile. I was initially slow because it took months to get to the “end”, but after that it just took me a while to get it written down.

…The home I was trying to sell was fixed up, but I wasn’t receiving any decent offers. [So] I went to the temple on June 29, 2019, with the question in my heart, “Am I supposed to keep the home?”

I had told my realtor that if I wasn’t able to get 325K for the home, then I wouldn’t sell it. I think it was priced at about 334K at that time. While I was in the temple I received a clear answer, and it was words to this effect:

“I told you to sell the home; I didn’t tell you how much money you needed to get out of it. Sell the home.”

I called my realtor that same day and told her I had to sell the home immediately. We talked about lowering the price to 320K, but she didn’t do anything for a few days. I felt like something might be wrong. My realtor had offered to help me pay for a sprinkler repair that I didn’t really want to do, and I felt like I needed to pay her back right away. Money was super tight at that time; in fact, my checking account was more often negative than positive.

While I was considering this situation, I had the impression that I should take out a very short term loan on my van, which I owned outright. I know to some people this may seem like a bad thing to do, but it was what I was supposed to do at that time. There were several reasons why I needed to follow that impression.

It took faith because at that point, I still had no offers on my home, but I went ahead with the loan on July 8, 2019, and I took the money to my realtor that same day. She seemed much happier when I stopped by, and we made a plan to lower the price to 320K and do an open house at the end of the week.

Well, it turned out we didn’t even have until the end of the week because offers immediately started coming in. I was going back and forth between the two best offers, but neither one felt that great. They were both single men, and I really wanted to sell to a family. I finally decided on one that was around 325K and I had to pay some of buyer’s closing costs.

Before my realtor let him know, another offer came in for 327K, and I didn’t have to pay any closing costs, but even better, this offer was from a family. I knew right away that this was the offer I was waiting for. I want to let you know what my original goal statement was when I first realized I needed to sell the home. This is what I wrote:

“I am so grateful my home sold so quickly for even more than I was asking! My home was sold by April 30th, 2019, at a minimum cost to me for cleaning and repairs. I am so grateful Heavenly Father led me to know that I needed to sell my house and that he is continuing to guide and direct my steps.”

As I struggled to keep my thoughts positive and keep the outcome I wanted in my mind, I continued to feel deep down that God has a hand in this, but I was having a hard time trusting my impressions. One day I was writing in my [Mindset Mastery] Transformation Journal, and I felt the impression the home was intended for someone specific, and that it would sell when they were ready to buy it. That gave me some peace, but it was still an effort to continue believing.

Finally, I rewrote my statement:

“I am so grateful and happy that Heavenly Father has prepared a family to buy my Orem home in May 2019. I know that this family will love their new home, and it is well worth the full asking price they pay for it. I am so grateful Heavenly Father led me to know that I needed to sell my house and that he is continuing to guide and direct my steps.”

It was amazing that, aside from the references to time and date, everything from both statements happened.

The house even sold for 7K more than I was asking at the time. I thought I needed a lot more money, but I was basing some of that on my assumptions about getting my son into the treatment program he was accepted into soon after I got home from Genius Bootcamp in March 2019.

Miracle 1: Selling the house

Shelly continued, because the house selling wasn’t the only goal on her list. Did she have enough to manage the cost of her son’s treatment?

The treatment program was $8500.00 per month for approximately a year. I had applied for a scholarship, and the owner said I would get one, but he did not know how much it would be because of the changing availability of scholarship funds. He said he wanted to help us get our son into the program because he considered us to be like family. We had never met, but he had been best friends with my sister’s husband since childhood; he knew my sister and her family well.

I appreciated the fact that he wanted to help us, but I just assumed I would need around half of the money, which would be about 50K. After I sold my home and budgeted out the profit to pay off debts, get my daughter on a mission, and go on a much needed family vacation, as well as some other necessary things, I felt I could put 30K towards the program for my son. I would continue working, and I hoped I could make payments if more was needed.

Even with the sale of the home, she was $20,000 short.

I talked to the owner again around September 2019, and he asked me what I could contribute. I said I had 30K set aside, and he told me that would be perfect, and the other 2/3 would be on scholarship. This was such a huge blessing and miracle for us. It was another proof to me that nothing is really about the money. I thought I needed 20K more from my house, but I didn’t.

The Lord was not confined to using the profits from the sale of my home to get His work done.

And it’s not just about our needs. The Lord also delights in providing us the joyful desires of our hearts as well. This is one thing I learned at a time when our family needed help from the Bishop’s Storehouse. I distinctly remember the order process included a question of not only what our needs were, but also our wants. I remember it because it surprised me and struck me as such a merciful expression of God’s love and concern for our happiness. We were feeling ashamed for needing any help at all, and clearly the Lord wanted us to experience his unbounded benevolence.

Shelly experienced the same thing, with a trip to Disneyland for her family even amid all these other stresses:

We also experienced some big miracles with our Disneyland trip that we were planning to take the week after our home was scheduled to close. It was the only week all of my 8 children could go, so it had to be that week. Going on this trip had been one of my goals for a long time, but it seemed like it wasn’t going to be possible when the closing for our home got pushed back a week, and I was left with a negative balance in my checking account the day we were supposed to leave on our trip.

The home didn’t end up funding until after our trip was over, but we were still able to go, and we had an amazing time. I just took it one step at a time and believed it was going to happen, and it did. There are too many more details to explain that here, but it was amazing.

Miracle 2: The trip to Disneyland

And finally, another unexpected miracle regarding her son and the treatment he needed. She writes:

My son was originally supposed to go into the treatment program at the end of August/beginning of September, but his entrance date was pushed back several times. He was taking the spot of a scholarship student who ended up needing more time than originally planned.

Around November 2019, things were beginning to get very difficult at home, and I was worried that my son might even run away. I continued to do my best to push out doubt and maintain my faith that my son would get the help he needed.

There were several more miracles that happened as I held that end goal in mind, and eventually he entered the program on December 3, 2019.

Although I recognized this as a huge blessing, I wondered many times why my son’s entrance date was pushed off so many times. I prayed about it because it didn’t make sense to me. There were some things that happened in the fall that I felt would have been best avoided, and would have been avoided if he had entered the program when we originally expected him to.

But then I saw it. It was only last week when I was reading an article about the difficulties children with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) are having with the quarantine, that I received a complete answer to my question. I knew in that moment that my son entered exactly when he was supposed to.

Miracle 3: Shelly’s son hanging Christmas lights at the treatment facility ranch

She wrapped up her report with this:

I would never have imagined last March, when I attended the Genius Bootcamp, that my life would change so drastically in one year, but it has changed so much, and definitely for the better. Thank you to the scholarship contributor that got me into Genius Bootcamp, and thank you for sharing your knowledge of truth!

Warm regards,
Shelly Webb

PS. This is what I created at Genius Bootcamp, a representation of my problem solved. When I drew it, I was imagining my son getting the care he needed, but I didn’t yet know what my solution would be. This was before I realized that my answer would begin with selling the house, but now I can see that the solution turned out to relate perfectly to my drawing:

_________________

Shelly, thank you so much for sharing your experience. This is further proof that it doesn’t matter how big the problem is, there’s always a way. It begins with actively and methodically creating the desired outcome first in your mind, and taking it all just one step at a time.

If you would like help initiating the process effectively, I hope you’ll join us sometime at a Genius Bootcamp. It’s where true miracles can begin. Come get the genius, inspired idea you need to know your next steps.

And best of all, you won’t take those steps alone.

Even with all our “right-thinking” and successful “goal achievement strategies,” we couldn’t take a single step without the breath of life given to us by our Father in Heaven, nor without the strength we receive through the power of His son, Jesus Christ. And as we look back on our tough times, we will discover that sometimes our forward progress only happened because of steps that weren’t even our own:

“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.” –

Footprints in the Sand by Margaret Fishback Powers

___________

For more on this topic, read Portal to Genius FREE, or join us at Genius Bootcamp. (A virtual option is sometimes available. Check the schedule here.)

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Leslie Householder

Leslie Householder is the award-winning, international best selling author of The Jackrabbit Factor, Portal to Genius, and Hidden Treasures: Heaven's Astonishing Help With Your Money Matters. Since 2002, she has helped people all over the world discover and apply the Rare Kind of Faith that causes things to happen for powerful life changes. Through story and shifts of perspective, Leslie aims to help her readers crush every challenge, achieve every goal, and vanquish every monster under their beds. Above all, Leslie is a dedicated wife and mother of seven children.

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