Moving

Our insurance company offered the services of their housing assistance, which locates and furnishes temporary housing. It was a weight lifted, since I wasn't even sure how to go about finding something that didn't require a 12 month contract. Day 1, they found nothing. Day 2, they found nothing. Day 3, they called quite excited! They found the perfect house for us! I called to schedule a walk through and was surprised to find out it was located on the eastern outskirts of Cedar Rapids. A solid ninety minutes from our property, where we would need to spend a lot of time rebuilding. Oh, yes, and the landlord was surprised to learn we had four children. He thought this house would way too small for six people. I didn't even bother looking at it. I called the assistance back and asked them to try again.

In the mean time, a class mate of Ben's sister learned of our situation and mentioned she and her husband had a rental house that was available. They were interested in working with the length of the contract so we could have a place to live. Ben and I went to look at it on day 4, July 15th, and felt perfect peace about moving our family here. It was a bit small, only 1300 square feet, about half what the corn crib was. But it was right off the interstate, 15 minutes to Ben's work and under an hour to the house site (what we are calling our property).

The agency seemed a bit put off that we didn't use their services and warned me about trying to furnish the house on our own. Hehe! If only she knew how amazing my God is! We moved in on the 21st, just six days after looking at it, and had beds for everyone of us! We had a couple chairs and a table and some dressers. Inside of two weeks, we had a fully furnished house!

Above: the front of the house from the road.
Below: the backyard with play set!

Above: the back of the house, including lower and upper decks!
Below: the fire pit, not quite the same as fires at our place, but close enough for comfort!

Between the 16th and the 21st, we were offered two more houses with flexible contracts. One in Keystone and one about four miles west of our property. We actually had our pick of homes! Who'd of thought!

We chose this one for the kids and I. My brain was so overwhelmed, that planning dinner was more than I could handle. Having a grocery store right down the street made this time much easier. Also, having a Walmart and Target so close helped with the general house items. Every morning I would get up and start a list of things we needed. Run out to the store. Arrive home and start a list for the next day. I am still identifying items that need replacing...four months later! This house has been quite a blessing, although we are very eager to get back to our property, I believe God put us here!