The Big Move!

Since August, I have been living in "the girls house".  Shortly after moving in, the landlord announced that when the lease was up in October, he did not want to rent it out any more.  There were five of us living there at the time.  So, we all started looking for other places to live.  April moved to Jubilee (which was already planned prior to the landlord's announcement), Grace and Kez moved to an apartment, and Julie and I began house hunting for a place to share.

She has a motorcycle so we needed a place with a wall around it so that her moto would not be easy to steal.  That made our house hunting a little bit more challenging.  We found one house that was out of my price range and much larger than we needed.  But, it was really nice and Julie loved it.  So, she offered to pay two thirds of the rent and I would pay one third.  I agreed, but I never had a great feeling about that house.  

We met the owner and discussed the work that would need to be done before we could move in (put in sinks, shower faucets, and get the electricity working properly).  He agreed to have everything in working order within one week.  It is Haiti, so unless we paid part of the rent in advance, they would not have the funds to do the repairs.  We paid $500 and signed a "contract".  The contract was written on a floral print post-it note, in French, with both of our names spelled incorrectly...very official.  One week later, we went back to see if it was all finished.  It was not.  On top of that, the landlord informed us that our electricity was not strong enough to pump water from our cistern up to the roof (our only way of having running water).  He had no intentions of fixing the problem as he had promised to do.  So, we got our money back and decided that was not the house for us.

We were worried about finding a place in such a short amount of time.  Julie thought that she might have to sacrifice her moto for a house without a wall/gate.  But, our Papa longs to take care of His children.

The very next day, Julie saw a for rent sign on a little place on one of the busier roads.  She stopped by, met the man who takes care of the house and called me to come see it, too.  We both loved it immediately!  We negotiated on the rent and then paid half in advance.  They asked for one week to finish up some small repairs.  Exactly one week later, and we are in our new house!  It is PERFECT!

Almost everyone in our "clan" came out today to help us move today.

There were around 20 people.  We had both Haitian friends and American friends working together to get us settled in.  It was a full house, but it was full of joy and excitement.  I am so blessed and so thankful for this life of mine.  I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Our house is right on the way to Jubilee so it will be easy for me to find a moto or a tap-tap to get to school everyday.  It's on a main tap-tap route so we have easy access to public transportation.  It is walking distance from "the big house" aka the Papa Beaver and Mama Kathy's house/guest house.  It is on a second floor so we have a nice breeze.  It has a gate and wall around it.  It is the perfect size for two people.  And, it is $1,000 less per year than the first house that we looked at.  This is the 6th place that I've lived in the past two years, but I couldn't be happier.  I praise God for this wonderful blessing.  He knew our need and our desire and He provided something beautiful.  Can I say it again?  I am so blessed.