Adventures in Homelessness Part 5

We have been back in Rochester this weekend visiting friends because our friend Joel's parents were in town so we couldn't stay at their house and we wanted to come back anyway because Glenn had a 3 day weekend and we were hoping to find his Bible that we thought that we had left at church. When I heard that the sermon was on "God's Prescription for Your Depression" and that this weekend was Church at the Beach I was very much looking forward to the Sunday of our visit! While at church though I was reprimanded because I have not blogged in a while with an update.

So, last I blogged we had just found out that our offer on a house had been accepted. We were pretty excited but when we had our inspection on Tuesday afternoon it did not turn out that well. The first thing that he noticed was the roof. On the disclosure the owner had said that 2/3rds of the roof was new but the inspector only figures it was 1/3 and it was a poorly done patch job over too many layers. There were also problems with the plumbing (the upstairs toilet and sink weren't working) and the electrical system (there were scorch marks above the light switch upstairs) among many other problems with "amateurish workmanship." We still really liked the house but our offer didn't really leave us room for putting on a new roof with no real paycheck coming for 4 years so we asked for some concessions from the owner which she didn't want to give us so today we discovered that it is back on the market. I know that God has a plan in all of this so we are trusting Him.

In the mean time we have had a pretty good week. We went to the New York State Fair on Wednesday which was a lot of fun. Glenn had Wednesday off from classes so we made a day of it. I think you could probably make a day of it everyday for the duration of the Fair and still not see it all but we had a fun day exploring and learning. On the way back "home" from the fair and after having dinner with some friends it was about 10:30 and one of our tires blew about a mile from Joel and Michelle's. Glenn walked to their house to borrow their van to come back and get us then they put our tire that we had taken off because it had a slow leak back on it and in the morning we drove to Dunn Tire to get 4 new tires put on. Getting 4 new tires was actually on our "to do" list for last week because we knew it needed them ever since we bought the van back at the end of February but Thursday was definitely not the day I would have picked to do it nor was I planning on getting a flat tire but I am so glad that it happened when Glenn was with us and when we were not on the interstate! Michelle laughed at us that Glenn walked the mile to their house instead of calling and later when we were talking I had to laugh too. We are so independent. I am not sure when we are going to learn that it is OK to ask for and accept help from others. You would think that in the last month and a half of living with various other people we would have learned it by now but, obviously, we have not. 

On Friday we headed west and stopped in to visit my grandparents on the way to Rochester. The kids took a quick swim with Grandpa and we shared a apple pancake dinner, Hannah played Grandma in checkers and we watched the end of Beethoven. Glenn had school work to do so we hit the road and got to our friends' Dave and Hannah's house where we have been staying. It is fun to visit them here because we lived in this house for 2 months when it belonged to Brian and Kristina in our last time of homelessness. 

Yesterday, to allow Glenn time to study for his first exam which is on Friday, we headed out to Hannah's friend Heidi's house for the afternoon. It was fun to visit with them, the girls all played dress-up and had shows and the boys did boy stuff while I got to visit with Leah and Peter. 

This morning we went to North and I was really challenged by the sermon and the life of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. It was good and I would really challenge you if you ever struggle with discouragement or depression like me or know anyone who does to listen to the sermon.  We had a lazy afternoon that culminated in Lydia possibly getting a sprained ankle on a trampoline. I am not exactly sure how she did it but she is in a lot of pain. After that we headed up to Durand Eastman Park to have a picnic before Church on the Beach with Dave, Hannah & Hudson then we heard testimonies and watched 19 people get baptized in Lake Ontario. It was an awesome service. It was so neat to hear how God had worked in all of those people's lives. One thing that I thought was really neat was that 3 different couples got baptized together. What a neat opportunity. 

Well, back to the grind tomorrow. Glenn doesn't have class tomorrow but he does have a study session that he would like to go to so while he studies the kids and I are going to drive around some more and look for a place to live. This seems to be the theme of our lives lately and we are all so tired of looking at houses and not having our own space. I feel like I have cried wolf 4 times on our 4 different offers. I don't know if even I will believe myself next time I say a house looks promising but I know that God does have good plans for us. This song by Brenton Brown based on Well with my Soul by H.G. Spafford is on my heart today and with it I close for this edition of Adventures in Homelessness:

Sometimes it's hard sometimes I cry
Sometimes my heart wants to know why? 
But Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light 
And though my heart is aching
And there're tears in my eyes 

Whatever my lot, you have taught me to know 
It is well, it is well with my soul 

It's not always easy, I'm not always right 
Sometimes I do things that are wrong in Your sight 
But I have decided I'm going to follow Jesus 
And there's no turning back,
There's no turning back. 

You have reached down to me,
You have rescued me 
And have shed Your blood for my soul
And I live now knowing that the sky
And not the grave will be my goal 
And just as in life, also in death
This truth will comfort and console 
That soon I will see Your face
And hear Your voice and know that it is well...

Whatever my lot, You have taught me to know 
It is well, it is well with my soul 

But please hold my hand Lord and hold on tight 
'Cause the road here is narrow...