Our New Apartment

So .. we look back at our blessings ...

19 months under someone else's roof. The blessings are immense! The fact that someone would be willing to open their homes and their hearts to us is awesome. In most cases these benefactors did so with an eye toward the Mission field of Australia: our love.

So .. now we have been in our new place for a month. I have paid for our next month. We have a landline and Internet now. We don't get much snailmail yet .. or even email ... but we are ready to get started.

The story behind our place is just another wonderful gift from God! There is a terrible housing shortage in Sydney. This explains the leap in Rental rates. From last year till today, the housing has increased in many cases $100 per week! When an apartment or house becomes available they will publish an open house date. And not only are you inspecting the premesis, they are inspecting you. They will look at your credit, your lifestyle and your purpose for wanting the place. And in recent months, they entertain bidding wars among those who come to the open house!

That said ... 2 weeks before we came we still did not have a place secured. As it would turn out, they will not rent a place to someone they have not met face to face or has not personally inspected their rental property. So when Peter and Claire Ticjner called to say that they have a neighbor 2 doors down from them and that the rental rate was ONLY $360 per week ... we jumped at it! The attached video is after 3+ weeks of Tomya's purchasing and "dumpster diving". She put her polish on the place quickly and it turned out great!

Our hope was to have a place of hospitality. As she mentions in the video it has already proven to be that. We will be ready for you when you come to visit. We already have plans for 20+ for Christmas!! That will be awesome ... especially since most of that will be our kids and my mother-in-law.

So ... Thank you Lord for blessing us beyond anything we could have hoped for. And thank you Judy and others who believed in the work and us ... and gave us a wonderful place to land for a while. To God be the Glory in all that we say or do! (Eph 3:21)

Love Craig, Tomya and Micah