Our New Abode

No, we didn't buy it but it's the next best thing...we are renting! This was such an amazing answer to prayer! We were living in an apartment and weren't necessarily unhappy but were just wishing and hoping and praying for a house. With the housing market as it is, we know it's a great time to buy but we just aren't financially ready for that right now. Our apartment when we moved there was such a blessing and was more space than we'd ever had before. We enjoyed it but were constantly bombarded by loud neighbors, smoking neighbors, and lots of noise. We never felt truly settled there but always wanted to be thankful for God's provision. We had a message from our apartment manager letting us know our lease was coming up and she hoped we would renew. I sarcastically looked at David and said, "are we moving?" He grinned at me and said, "uh...no!". Seeing as we had just moved a year ago, neither of us were in the mood to pack up and shift our home again. The next day, my good friend, Beth, emailed me and said there was a house around the corner for rent in the historical district of Corona, one of our favorite parts of town. Dave was already asleep and I just laid awake and couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of a house. I told God that if he wanted us to move, I would entrust this whole situation into his hands. That was Tuesday...Wednesday morning at Bible study, Beth gave me the flier for the house. It was too good to be true...it was about $75 more than we were paying for an apartment. The house has been converted into a duplex, so we are renting the bottom of the house. After Bible study, I ran over to Dave's work and said, "you have to look at this. I know we said we wouldn't move, but this is just crazy!" He picked up the phone, dialed the number, and the landlord said, "How did you hear about this? I just put the sign out yesterday." He told us to come and look that night. We instantly fell in love with the landlords and the house, and I think they were thrilled to put the house in our hands. By Friday we were signing papers and two weeks later, we moved in. It's been a whirlwind to say the least but we feel so undeservingly blessed by God's grace! Our constant prayer since stepping foot into the house is that it be used for ministry. David has gotten super involved in the college group at our church and is absolutely loving it...and begging me to get involved as well. We are just beside ourselves and have had so much fun already. I have rosebushes all along the front walkway and have been clipping them for vases around the house everyday. David is loving having a garage is is contanstly looking for reasons he needs a new tool for the house. We have been able to have family over (my brother Jim, sister-in-law, Carrie, and nieces) and my parents were in town this week. What a joy to share it with them. We even hosted a big birthday bash for Jim, Carrie, and Charlie, whose birthdays are all in a row. Such fun! My home is open to you so if you are in town or nearby, please come by! I can't post the address, as David will not allow me to for security purposes but I will send out an address change soon. If you do not hear from me, I may not have your email. So, let me know!