Just wanted to let everyone know that God has a plan, and when we wait on His plans, we will find that they are much better than our own!
Two months ago, we had started looking for a new house, not sure how long it would take to find one that would suit us. At the time, we only knew of 3 houses available in our area, so out of the three we picked the best one that we could afford. It was the right size but was quite a fixer. Jason never had a peace about it, but we figured, we are missionaries now... We can't be so choosy, we need to be willing to sacrifice our comforts, etc. The current tenant was supposed to move out the last week of May, which was perfect timing for us since we wanted to stay in our current place as long as possible to help out the missionaries who normally live here but are on furlough. So we signed the lease so we'd be sure to have a place when the time came for us to move in June.
Last week, the tenant was supposed to have moved out, so we went to see if we could take measurements for curtains and figure out how much paint we'd need to buy to paint it. Well, the tenant had not moved out according to schedule and didn't seem so anxious to leave either, so we could feel our plan slipping down the drain. As is usual for Amy, she began to panic and worry. We imagined the worst, so started looking for another place.
We were told by a friend about a place just down the road from us that has been vacant for over a year. I'm not sure how we missed this one when we were looking two months ago. We went to look at it and fell in love. It is quite a bit smaller than what we have grown accustomed to back in the States, and even here in our borrowed house. But, it is a very well built, and well maintained home that Jason the Architect felt great about. It is immaculately clean, and has been completely repainted on the inside, even down to the insides of the closets and cupboards! It is on a HUGE compound, maybe about 3 acres (?), one acre which is a fully fenced plot in the back suitable for farming. This appealed to us greatly because we have been trying to figure out how to rent another plot for the Children's Home so we could grow more of our own food.
The only problem (there had to be at least one to make the story more exciting, right?) was the price. The owner was asking quite a bit more than we could afford. We had already adjusted our budget significantly just to be able to make the payment on the fixer house, as we grossly under-budgeted for housing when we were fund raising. Anyway, we told the owner the highest amount we could afford, which was 25% less than what he was asking. He said he would consider negotiating and would discuss it with his wife. The next morning, we spoke with him again and he said he could only come down about 12%. We told him we'd have to say no for now and keep looking.
We went back to see the landlord of the first house, and the tenant had finally moved out the previous day, so the house was vacant and we could still move in according to our contract. We went back to look at it, and found it in even worse shape than it had been when we saw it last. The gazebo in the back had completely collapsed, there were new water stains on the ceiling from the rains we've been having, and we noticed "hot" wires (wrapped in plastic grocery bags) sticking out of some of the walls that we hadn't seen before. Ugh. We couldn't stand the thought of moving in there any longer. We went back to the landlord and asked to be excused from the lease we had signed since the property was not in the same condition it had been when we signed. He agreed without any argument! We were so thankful for his graciousness.
We started to pray about how we could get into the other house. All of a sudden, "cleaning lady" popped into my head. We had budgeted for a cleaning lady, nearly the same amount that was the difference we needed to make the rent. I told Jason, "I can clean! I have been cleaning my own house my whole life! Let's do without the cleaning lady!" We called the owner back and offered what we could now without a cleaning lady, AND we offered to keep the old, decrepit guard dog who lives on the property that he was going to need to find a new home for. He agreed! So, now we have FOUR dogs, a beautiful house, a separate guest house for anyone who wants to come visit (Consider this your invitation!), and did I mention the fruit trees???? We will have avocados, mangoes, guava, bananas, gooseberries, and macadamia nuts!! More than we can possibly eat, so the children at the Home will benefit as well. What can we say? God's plans are so much better than ours.
We are packing today and will move in tomorrow. It will take us a few days to get our internet up and running, so we will be offline, but will send more photos as soon as we can. God is good, all the time! And yes, I have asked forgiveness for my worrying and complaining. I'm learning :-)
Blessings to you all, and thank you so much for your prayers!!
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