The Saga 4/6

We found out later the reason the landlord of the 14 acres wanted to go month to month was because she was losing the house. This was ridiculous. 3 houses in 3 years lost. The economy was certainly taking its toll.

We made our decision to move so we gave our landlord the 30 day notice. She was very angry. She had already been difficult to deal with but after that she treated us like dirt. There was foul language spoken and she called my husband some very ugly names. We has not done her wrong, she was the one wanting month to month!

We had chickens, pigs, goats, and horses-all that had to be re-homed.

The church did not have a shower so it would be a few weeks before we could move in. It ended up taking much longer.

We put in a bathroom and shower and painted. We moved most of our belongings to storage, and made a small living space out of 1 large Sunday school classroom. We divided it in half with furniture and hanging clothes to make a bedroom and a living room/classroom.

I always try to be a Pollyanna and see the rainbow in every situation. This one was tough. But there was a park across the street, the library within walking distance, a gas station the kids loved frequenting, the rent was free, we had plenty of space outside of the little classroom......we made the best of it.

Even though it was beyond challenging and difficult, my kids to this day say their most memorable times were spent in that classroom! We would listen to Odyssey as a family nearly every night. We spent a lot of time at the park, and we learned to face obstacles together and to pray.

I remember one day in particular, I felt really claustrophobic, the kids blow up mattresses and blankets were piled everywhere, their school books, art supplies, and toys were up to our ears, a hanging rack had just collapsed, and I lost my cool and snapped at my precious babies for arguing or something of that nature.

I immediately felt pricked in my heart...this wasn't their fault. I gathered them around me and told them I was sorry and that we needed to pray for God to help us get a house. I sobbed my heart out to the Lord that day, with my loves all around me. I believed God had something better for us.

We were in the church for 7 months! We moved in, in the heat of summer, and made it through a cold, wet, and rainy winter with a leaking roof and moldy walls/carpet. It was in spring that the black mold was so bad we felt it was detrimental to our health so we knew we had to do something.

My husband had a new job that was a blessing and it had been stable for a few months so finally we were back on the house hunting adventure. This time it was pure excitement!