A New Home!

This will be brief. I promise.

Roman and I have decided to leave Pacuare Viejo and head out on our own. Today we met with a man with a house for rent in Corales 3, a nice neighborhood close to our favorite resort. An hour later we were scheduling times to sign contracts and imagining ourselves in our "first home."

Of course, I use the expression lightly. This is a rental property, with three large bedrooms and a nice living space/kitchen, but it´s safer than our previous locale and gives us the opportunity to truly experience life as citizens of Limon. We are being given the ability to paint and decorate as we see fit, and neither of us can deny the excitement we feel over this new development.

Last night we stayed up late watching HGTV, and in particular "House Hunters." The premise of this show is that a couple declares their budget and then they visit three houses that are in the ballpark. The excitement of this is that we, the viewers, try to guess which house the couple will choose. Then they show the selected home a few months later and you can see how the couple has transformed the space. I always thought that the level of excitement these people display was contrived and false, but alas, after realizing that we had a place of our own, Roman and I were much the same.

This decision is rather sudden, although I don´t think anyone on the Provincial Elders Conference here in Costa Rica was caught by surprise. In fact, I get the feeling that they expected the call to come sooner. In reality, they´re right. If left to my own devices, I wouldn´t change a single thing... but that´s acting out of a fear that I choose not to clarify in a public forum. We needed to move, but it took Roman´s confidence before I agreed to see the vision through. I am, however, extremely thankful. I am hoping that this new change will be all that I need to begin my recovery from the illness that has been plaguing me for the past month.

This new change, of course, brings many prayer requests. First and foremost: we need furniture. As I am writing this now, we have just gotten a call that one of our churches is donating a sofa and chairs, and another family is donating two single beds without mattresses. That still leaves a need for said mattresses, refrigerator, stove, microwave, and pans/plates. We really don´t have anything except a pair of fans for our bedrooms. Please be in prayer for these needs to be met- and quickly. We move in tomorrow.

The other major prayer request is for my relationship with Sara. As I mentioned before, I would not be moving if it weren´t for the counsel of others whom I not only trust, but know are right in their perceptions. I know that I need to move for many reasons, but I don´t relish the thought of hurting her feelings or taking a much needed source of income from her. There are, of course, many other factors at play that I do not wish to disclose, but suffice it to say that I am worried about what this will do to our relationship. Please pray for a peaceful "passing of understanding."

Otherwise, once Roman and I are established in our ¡NEW HOME! we will be sure to upload some great pictures... and maybe a video or two. ( I have LOTS of good videos to share...)

I love you all, and will have more news for you later. Stay safe in the face of Hurricane Gustav!