settling in

at the end of june, anthony found out that his job had an expiration date
which was the end of august

clearly, not the BEST timing in the world's eyes
but we couldn't help think
that God was probably up to something

(little.did.we.know.)

we struggled for a few moments whether to apply at the townhomes we were interested in
finally settling on applying as we had planned
only stepping back if no job prospects had materialized for him by the time we were supposed to sign the lease in early september
a step of faith

and we continued tithing and giving beyond that when we felt so inclined
feeling that God has SO blessed us
that there's no reason to hang onto money that's not even ours
out of a spirit of fear

life went on
anthony began the job hunt
we were thankful that they had given him 2 months notice
but there were still some fearful moments

and then, in mid-july
i was driving home from job #1 on a friday when he called me
and the conversation started like this
"you are not going to BELIEVE the conversation i just...
actually...YOU'RE going to believe this."

he proceeded to tell me that our friends who had recently moved out of state
had been wanting to rent, rather than sell, their home
and that they really wanted us to live there
so much that they had low-balled the rent to $100 less per month than we'd be paying at the townhome.

when our friend T, the realtor handling all this
called him to tell him this
he explained that while that was an INCREDIBLY good deal
and one that would be perfect
we just weren't in a position right now to do that
because of his job uncertainty
and while we would obviously hate to not be able to pay rent at an apartment complex
we would REALLY not want to do that to friends

at that point she said "it's interesting you mention that..."
and explained that for some time these friends of ours
had been feeling that God might be asking them
to use this house as a ministry
to let people who are struggling financially
(just lost jobs, just starting out, paying down debt, etc)
stay in the house for a very reduced rent
or even free

we went to see the house the following sunday
and were absolutely floored
easily 3 times (at least) the size of the townhouse
(it's like God said "ok, I'll see your townhouse and I'll raise you...")

at the end of a cul-de-sac
facing the woods...
it's perfect.

and it's perfect for so many reasons

our mission statement that we had to write in our marriage prep class went something like this
"our mission is to serve and love families through hospitality, writing and teaching."

we thought it would be years before we'd be able to REALLY put that hospitality thing to work
but this house?  completely enables us to not only host large gatherings, but to offer beds and rooms to guests and friends for extended periods of time.  it's SO our heart to do that, and God just handed us the perfect place to do so.

anthony loves to tell people that before we were ever engaged we talked about "dream homes" for WAY in the future.  our list included the following *small* details

- a window over the kitchen sink (my wish)
- no tile tubs/showers (a's wish)
- a deck and nice backyard
- close to an interstate (a must in nashville) but a quiet neighborhood
- family friendly neighborhood
- a fireplace
- a big tub (me again)
- a HUGE kitchen
- lots of natural light
- a bonus room for a man cave (guess who ;-)

guys.  this house?  has every.single.detail and more.

my favorite part of the story has to do with a prophetic word that one of our pastors gave me a few months ago.  he was talking about my life and the things that had been taken unfairly.  and he said "there's a verse in the Bible that says that when the enemy steals something for you he has to repay it 7-fold" and that he really felt i would see fruit of that verse over the next several months, in every facet of my life.

when the mortgage company made that huge error last spring, i ended up with 10 days to move out of my condo

the other day i got a bit curious and decided to count the number of days from the day T had said "yes, absolutely start moving your stuff in the house whenever you'd like" to our wedding date.

i re-counted after the first count.

because the number?  was 70.  exactly 70.  7 times the amount of days i had to move a year and a half ago.

if i hadn't already been sure this was God...i certainly would have been at that moment.

meanwhile, anthony is working a temporary gig for the next several months
but we've been told to not pay a cent of rent until after our wedding.

God.IS.Good
don't you ever, ever doubt it

thursday's ten: apartment hunting edition

 ohhhh, this weekend will be fun
and i actually mean that :-)
although we will be exhausted to be sure

we're heading out saturday to begin apartment hunting
we have a comprehensive list
with amenities of each unit, community, and special features
and the price range of each place

and we're organizing all of them in order of our "on paper...er, spreadsheet" preferences

we've been SHOCKED that in our price range there are actually some really nice (we hope!) places out there
and since we feel like we have options
i thought i'd put a little wishlist out there :-)

now, we may find the PERFECT place that's missing one or more of these elements
but as of right now...here's the list.  at least from my end :-)



1.  outdoor space.  i need a place to sit outside, a spot to grow things in, even if it's patio tomatoes.  i can get creative with a raised bed on an apartment balcony if i need to :-)  ideally our hammock would fit, but that's not a necessity.  i'm pretty sure we could "loan" it to someone in a spot where we could use it ourselves as well :-)
2.  a decent sized kitchen, or at least one with enough cabinet and counter space.  since we both love good food and cooking, and i LOVE entertaining, this is actually pretty crucial.  we'd love to at least have one that opens out into an adjacent space so that it doesn't feel completely closed off!
3.  washer/dryer connections.  i already have a w/d, so there's NO reason we should have to pay for laundry somewhere.
4.  an extra little closet (or in a perfect world a big enough utility area...and we've actually found a couple of floor plans that have that IN our price range!) so that we can stash emi's litterbox away from main traffic flow.
5.  space.  we're looking for the largest square footage in a decent layout for the money.  and we've been encouraged so far!  we're hoping to not have to rent any more storage facilities than i already have!  since we're planning on selling a fair amount of our furniture, that should be doable.
6.  stairs.  emi would be lost without them :-)  and i feel like if we could get a townhouse we would FEEL like we had more privacy, ya know?
(this is obviously the one on the list that is the lowest priority.  but seriously.  we've found a few options that as long as we like the community would be GREAT)
7.  a bathtub.  oh, how i miss taking a nice long hot bath every now and then.  i have a fantastic shower where i am...but i miss.my.tub!
(thankfully that one's pretty standard, but i still want to include it.  because i miss it that much.  ha!)
8.  light.  at least big windows, even if they are few.  i can't stand to feel like i'm in a dark cave, so i'd like as much natural light as possible. 
9.  a 2nd bedroom to be used for girls nights, guest room and office.  i have been told that i get to choose the decor all by myself if we end up getting an apartment with 2 bedrooms, and believe me ladies and gentlemen...i have a PLAN.
10. a walk in closet.  ok, so this is on my list and i seriously doubt that anthony has even considered it.  but in looking at floor plans, most of them actually have walk-ins, so...why not? :-)

every place we've looked at has the good amenities such as pool and fitness center, strangely enough.  so i don't have that on the list, or the fact that in some areas of town we'd prefer a gated community...because all the ones we're looking at in those areas actually are gated.

so...hopefully by this time next week we'll have our list narrowed down! and i'm totally excited.  i get to pick out a place to live with my (future) HUSBAND!  this is the first time i becomes "we" in the decision making process about anything besides the wedding itself.  :-)