Remember how I said I was excited to see how the Lord provided for this part of our journey (finding a house or apartment in NC)?  Well, can I take that back?  The Lord has provided but, as I am in the process of learning, not in the ways we would always like.  Let me explain….

We traveled to NC early Monday morning (so Kinsley could sleep most of the way in the car) and when we arrived, we hit the ground running on the house hunting search.  While we were looking at houses, we got a call for a friend here in town that Sharon Mehaffie, who were supposed to be staying with during our trip, had been in a major car accident.  She was at the hospital in critical condition, had just gotten out of emergency surgery, and would probably be in the hospital for 5-7 days because of major injuries.  We were very obviously heartbroken and saddened, both for Sharon and her husband Mike.  We led project with Mike in Santa Cruz and we absolutely love both Mike and Sharon.  They are both so incredibly generous and kind and love the Lord with everything in them.  They are also tons of fun!  We were assured that they still wanted us to stay in their house (which I think has turned out to be a blessing to have someone here to take care of things).  After house hunting on Monday, we returned to Mike and Sharon’s house and got an update from Mike about Sharon, what had happened in the accident, and we even got the privilege of praying with him.

Us, with Mike, Sharon, and Misty Cook in Yosemite in 2009

Also, on Monday, we found out that our house in KY appraised for way less than we expected, which will affect the price we negotiated with the buyer.  We are appealing the appraisal, but basically means we will not be able to get what we settled on for the house.

We did find a house we liked Monday but after research, learned that NC 540 (4-6 lane bypass around Raleigh) was going to be coming through only 400 feet away from the property.  Yea, too close for comfort.  So Tuesday, we continued our hunt.  We looked at a gazillion houses and found 3 that we really liked, and they were all in the same neighborhood with similar layouts, but with different square footage.  We decided to put an offer in on the one with the most square footage (although it didn’t feel bigger than the others).  That same night, someone else put an offer in on that same house and the buyers went with the other people.  So, after many tears and not understanding why the Lord made this process so crazy (we also lost another house about 2 weeks ago that was a foreclosure, amazing deal, and had 7 offers in on the house), we decided to put an offer in on one of the other houses.

Honestly, we liked this one more than the one we put an offer in on first but it was higher in price and for less square footage (but had a fenced backyard and other extras).  We were able to negotiate last night and basically after all has been said and done, we are getting it for cheaper than we would have gotten the first one.

So here are the lessons I have learned (or relearned since this isn’t the first time the Lord has taught us these things):

1.  The Lord is in control and ultimately gave us the best hoause for the best price.  2.  I have a problem trusting the Lord when times get tough.  3.  I don’t always like the journey the Lord takes us on, especially if it isn’t easy.

Pray for Sharon, as she is recovering, and for wisdom for the doctors that they can discover what else may be wrong.  Pray that everything continues to go smoothly with the buying process.  Also, pray that we are able to get a higher appraisal for our house in KY and find out why it was so low (bad comparables, wrong information, etc.).