A God thing

Before we left Mazatlan Ralph had been looking for a rental house for us without much luck. Most were beyond our budget or the landlords were not interested in renting to two unemployed former missionaries! Then there were those who would be happy to rent to us unemployed folks, just needed first and last months rent in advance and triple the normal deposit. Whoa! So we figured we might be imposing on the kids for quite a while, at least until one or both of us got a job.

Just as we were getting ready to leave town though Ralph saw an ad for a house that fit our needs and was within our budget and asked our friends Carolyn and Robyn to check it out for us, as it was in their neighborhood. They tried for several days to connect with the landlord before they themselves had to leave town, but they had no luck reaching them. So they passed it off to our friends Bob and Sue and they finally did connect with them and did a preview for us. They sent us an e-mail while we were on the road and said it was a nice house, the only thing was it was a little dated (love the 70s) and had a really steep driveway. So as we were passing through Olympia on our way to the kids' house we stopped and took a look ourselves, liked what we saw and called the landlords. They came out and met us and the rest is history!! We signed the lease this past Monday and have officially moved in as of Friday night!!

We are so thankful to have this house and it is truly a God thing. Even without either of us having a job the landlords rented to us and we only had to pay the rent and a small deposit. It's really big, about 1900 square feet and is in the Ken Lake neighborhood in Olympia. We even have a peek-a-boo view of the lake from the living room. Here are some pictures.

The house itself:



The front entry:



This is the living room:



Looking from the living room to the dining room:



The nook off the kitchen:



Standing in the nook looking through the kitchen to the dining room:



The family room off the kitchen:



The master bedroom:





The master bedroom, dining room and family room all open out to a nice patio in the back:



The back yard is terraced because we are on a hill:



The office:



The guest room:



And Ken Lake, just across the road and a little down the hill:



We both had job interviews this week too. I had a phone interview a week or so ago, and then had a second interview with them this past Wednesday. Ralph also had an interview on Wednesday. We are both hopeful and hope to hear early this next week. Please continue to pray about jobs and a second vehicle for us.

Thank you so much for your prayers!! We love you guys!!!