It takes vision to see something through. Literally, it takes eye site, and an ability to see beyond what is physically present in front of you.
Today was a long day, and my legs ache from the amount of work that I did, but I can't complain. When I think about moving into this new place, my heart feels happy. I don't think I ever mentioned that the shack is particularly dark due to the placement of the few windows it actually has. The new place has I think about 12 windows that let the glorious sunlight in.
The rabbit lady moved another bunny down to the garage this evening, and she swept up more hay. Now half of the room is nearly clean. And, I have to say that through this process we are building a trust with our new landlord. I think it took her so long to actually allow us to get into the apartment because of her fear of what we would think of her. By us allowing her to move at her own pace, but also gently pushing her forward, she has started to share with me little pieces of things about her life.
I've been thinking more and more that this place, this apartment is a great opportunity for us financially. But, even more so, sometimes God places us in the lives of people for a reason. I'm feeling like this is one of those situations. Who knows what is in store. I have no expectations, other than creating a home in our little apartment over the rabbit lady's garage and becoming debt free. How our relationship with the rabbit lady unfolds is yet to be seen. But, I do have a vision for it.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Waiting
My life is all about waiting. And I have to say, I'm not enjoying the wait. Perhaps if it was only one thing that I was waiting on...like, waiting for the timer to go off to remove a cake from the oven. Now, that I wouldn't mind. But, for now, I am stuck in waiting, and trying to allow God to speak to me, even in the midst of my unsettled heart.
Let's just call our potential new landlord, the rabbit lady. The rabbit lady loves her bunnies, so much so, that she has not been willing to remove them from the apartment that we are supposed to be moving in to in 2 weekends. Her famous saying is, I'll just do that tomorrow. Yeah, right. I spent last Saturday cleaning out her air conditioned garage, creating a space for her 6 bunnies. She has promised nearly every day to move them down, and every day, she says, I'll do it tomorrow. Glenn has been installing the toilet, new vanity and sink, and fixing the shower this week. The rabbit lady went and purchased everything that we need to have a beautiful bathroom...now if we could just remove the six rabbits, six pens, plethora of hay, toddler bed, and other crap out of that room and clean it, we'd be good to go. BUT, we wait. Glenn announced on Tuesday that if she doesn't have the rabbits removed by Saturday, demonstrating that she actually wants us at her place, we will find a new place to live. So, we wait for the rabbit lady to get her act together.
What does all that actually translate to? Boxes sitting at our current place of living, half packed. We don't know if we are staying or going. What a fun place to be.
I'm waiting to see when my dad will get his miracle. Every day I pray that the Lord would help me with my unbelief. I waver between letting my dad go and trusting that God is going to heal him in His timing. I wait to see if he's actually going to stay here on earth, or be with Jesus. The waiting.
What is it about the waiting that is so unsettling? Is it because I'm not in control? I like to be in control. I like to know what's coming next. Who doesn't? Lord, help me in the waiting.
Let's just call our potential new landlord, the rabbit lady. The rabbit lady loves her bunnies, so much so, that she has not been willing to remove them from the apartment that we are supposed to be moving in to in 2 weekends. Her famous saying is, I'll just do that tomorrow. Yeah, right. I spent last Saturday cleaning out her air conditioned garage, creating a space for her 6 bunnies. She has promised nearly every day to move them down, and every day, she says, I'll do it tomorrow. Glenn has been installing the toilet, new vanity and sink, and fixing the shower this week. The rabbit lady went and purchased everything that we need to have a beautiful bathroom...now if we could just remove the six rabbits, six pens, plethora of hay, toddler bed, and other crap out of that room and clean it, we'd be good to go. BUT, we wait. Glenn announced on Tuesday that if she doesn't have the rabbits removed by Saturday, demonstrating that she actually wants us at her place, we will find a new place to live. So, we wait for the rabbit lady to get her act together.
What does all that actually translate to? Boxes sitting at our current place of living, half packed. We don't know if we are staying or going. What a fun place to be.
I'm waiting to see when my dad will get his miracle. Every day I pray that the Lord would help me with my unbelief. I waver between letting my dad go and trusting that God is going to heal him in His timing. I wait to see if he's actually going to stay here on earth, or be with Jesus. The waiting.
What is it about the waiting that is so unsettling? Is it because I'm not in control? I like to be in control. I like to know what's coming next. Who doesn't? Lord, help me in the waiting.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Bunk beds?
So, we are moving in about 2 or 3 weeks. The final date hasn't been set quite yet. We are still waiting to see when our landlord is getting someone else into this place. Our new apartment has two rooms. The room that you first enter will be a bedroom for Glenn and me, and we will create a section for Aleena as well and partition it off. The main living area has plenty of room- a kitchen, nice bathroom (that Glenn is helping to repair and put new fixtures into), a living room area, a place for our table, and enough room for Aleena to play.
Glenn and I were trying to brainstorm ways to organize our bedroom, and he said, Christine, I think we're going to have to trade in our bed for something smaller. I said, Um, what? He said, I just don't think there's enough room for our king size bed. I said, Do you know what it's like to share a bed with you? I've been kneed in the ribs, elbowed in the nose, kneed in the back- we are NOT getting a smaller bed. Glenn thinks for a moment and then says, I know. How about bunk beds? We both started laughing, because it's a funny thought to think about a married couple having bunk beds, but the truth is that it would make our lives easier! We will NOT be getting bunk beds, at least not for our use. Maybe one day when we have kids who can use them, but not for us! I've earned the right to sleep in the same bed with my husband. And, we'll manage. We always do.
As we sat talking today, we realized that we need to downsize even more. I was thinking, is that even possible? And the answer is always, yes. We are going to sell my piano (and replace it with a full length keyboard that can fit under the bed or couch, the hutch in storage, our computer and desk (which we will trade in for a laptop), a dresser, and the queen bed we have in storage. It's just stuff, right? And in the case of the piano and computer, those will be replaced with more practical items.
I may have said it before, but this move will be easier than the last. I went over yesterday to help our future landlord clean out her garage. That's where her 6 rabbits will live. I know Aleena will love the small animal farm that she has at her home. Isn't it funny where God leads us? If you had told me 5 years ago where I'd be today, I would have said, Absolutely not. No way, no how. And it's okay. Because we only have the grace for today. Lesson learned.
Glenn and I were trying to brainstorm ways to organize our bedroom, and he said, Christine, I think we're going to have to trade in our bed for something smaller. I said, Um, what? He said, I just don't think there's enough room for our king size bed. I said, Do you know what it's like to share a bed with you? I've been kneed in the ribs, elbowed in the nose, kneed in the back- we are NOT getting a smaller bed. Glenn thinks for a moment and then says, I know. How about bunk beds? We both started laughing, because it's a funny thought to think about a married couple having bunk beds, but the truth is that it would make our lives easier! We will NOT be getting bunk beds, at least not for our use. Maybe one day when we have kids who can use them, but not for us! I've earned the right to sleep in the same bed with my husband. And, we'll manage. We always do.
As we sat talking today, we realized that we need to downsize even more. I was thinking, is that even possible? And the answer is always, yes. We are going to sell my piano (and replace it with a full length keyboard that can fit under the bed or couch, the hutch in storage, our computer and desk (which we will trade in for a laptop), a dresser, and the queen bed we have in storage. It's just stuff, right? And in the case of the piano and computer, those will be replaced with more practical items.
I may have said it before, but this move will be easier than the last. I went over yesterday to help our future landlord clean out her garage. That's where her 6 rabbits will live. I know Aleena will love the small animal farm that she has at her home. Isn't it funny where God leads us? If you had told me 5 years ago where I'd be today, I would have said, Absolutely not. No way, no how. And it's okay. Because we only have the grace for today. Lesson learned.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Being content in plenty and in want
You know that verse that Paul wrote that says something like, "I've learned to be content in plenty and in want..."? (my paraphrase of course). Well, I think of that often since living in the shack, or the shed as Glenn refers to it. I find myself saying things like, "I hate living in this place," or "I hate stinkbugs," or I hate that I can never find anything when I need it." Usually, I resort to, "I hate this place." Hate is a pretty strong word. I think I use it too freely, because the truth is that I don't hate the shack. Since living here, we've been able to pay down one of my student loans tremendously. We took every bonus, our tax return, and any extra money that we could for the past 6 months, and we've faithfully been paying down my loan. In January, the loan amount was close to $25,000. Currently, we only have $6300 left to pay. How is that possible? We are not rich by any means. I'm a teacher for goodness sake! And Glenn isn't bringing home a six digit income either. So, how did we do it? We put our minds to knocking out our debt, which meant simplifying our lives. Not only did we go from a four bedroom townhouse down to a small (690 total square feet) house/shed, we also eliminated most of our bills.We pay rent, an electric bill, and a cell phone bill. Also, we are paying off my two student loans and the money that we owe back to the bank from our short sale. That's it. We don't have cable, but we do have an antenna, which gives us plenty to choose from. Our landlord supplies the Internet, we have no house phone, and we are using well water. We live with what we need, and we have a little bit of wiggle room.
So, technically, I don't hate living where we are right now. I don't love it either. And, that's okay because we will be moving again next month. I'm a little nervous to say that the new place is comparable in size, or maybe a little smaller? It's only two rooms total. The first room that you enter is a decent size and will be our bedroom as well as Aleena's room. We plan to buy or borrow a partition to section off the room for some privacy. Then, the main room is big enough to hold our kitchen table, have a little section for our couches, and a little section for our desk and computer. The kitchen has a full size fridge, which will be nice for a change!, and there's a newly remodeled bathroom. Because we've already downsized, I don't think the transition over to the new apartment will be all too difficult. The really amazing thing about this place is that it's only $500 a month, and this INCLUDES utilities! Can you believe that? Who ever heard of such a thing?
So back to what Paul said about being content in plenty and in want- I can see how it's important to find that place of contentment within yourself. Because if you can't find it in 690 square feet, chances are, you won't find it in 2500 square feet. Living in this new place will still be a sacrifice. It's not big, and I now have a walking 13 month old. Plus, we want to have more kids. I'm not sure how we'll have the room, but what I do know is that we will be debt free by April of next year. And, that will be a good feeling. If we can just continue to sacrifice and be faithful to pay off the rest of my student loans, and pay off the bank loan, we will be free to save our money. Ultimately, we want to own a reasonable home, and if we can save enough, we'll have a decent down payment. We'll do things the right way the next time we buy. Lesson learned.
So, technically, I don't hate living where we are right now. I don't love it either. And, that's okay because we will be moving again next month. I'm a little nervous to say that the new place is comparable in size, or maybe a little smaller? It's only two rooms total. The first room that you enter is a decent size and will be our bedroom as well as Aleena's room. We plan to buy or borrow a partition to section off the room for some privacy. Then, the main room is big enough to hold our kitchen table, have a little section for our couches, and a little section for our desk and computer. The kitchen has a full size fridge, which will be nice for a change!, and there's a newly remodeled bathroom. Because we've already downsized, I don't think the transition over to the new apartment will be all too difficult. The really amazing thing about this place is that it's only $500 a month, and this INCLUDES utilities! Can you believe that? Who ever heard of such a thing?
So back to what Paul said about being content in plenty and in want- I can see how it's important to find that place of contentment within yourself. Because if you can't find it in 690 square feet, chances are, you won't find it in 2500 square feet. Living in this new place will still be a sacrifice. It's not big, and I now have a walking 13 month old. Plus, we want to have more kids. I'm not sure how we'll have the room, but what I do know is that we will be debt free by April of next year. And, that will be a good feeling. If we can just continue to sacrifice and be faithful to pay off the rest of my student loans, and pay off the bank loan, we will be free to save our money. Ultimately, we want to own a reasonable home, and if we can save enough, we'll have a decent down payment. We'll do things the right way the next time we buy. Lesson learned.
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