Truly a Miracle

Now that I have a little bit more time to relax, let me tell you what has happened in my life recently.  

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 started out like most days for me. 

We had our friend Jake over for dinner the night before and he had asked about the apartment for rent of which the sign at the top of our drive was announcing. I knew it wasn't one of our apartments in our complex. So I told him I hadn't a clue. 

On Wednesday, I told him I would call and ask for him. His friend needed an apartment that was affordable and that was a little more private than the one she is living in now. I called and found out it was $450 a month and a $200 deposit. I was shocked at this information. Surely she would be able to afford that! I began to get excited for her, hoping I would be her neighbor. I relayed the information to Jake and left it at that. The next day, I found out that she wasn't interested, but I thought maybe I could take a peak at the apartments just for curiosity sake. I called the owner and asked more detailed questions. "How many bedrooms?" was my only curiosity about the apartment for rent. She told me there are really two apartments with two bedrooms, one is a cottage and one in the complex and they are both the same price and deposit. I set up an appointment for the next day to see both of them. I thought about our friend Keith and how he has been wanting to move into a more private apartment. I knew that the cottage would be of interest to him. 

Friday, October 17, I met with Helen Henson and saw the complex apartment and was in shock that for two bedrooms, a bigger kitchen than ours, a sun room, dining room, living room, screen porch, and washer and dryer it was still only $450 a month. And still just a $200 deposit. Even though I was in awe, I knew it wasn't for us. And that is how I was going to view it, no more, no less. The cottage came next. It was just two bedrooms, a screen porch, kitchen, and living room area attached to kitchen. Nothing big, nothing fancy, but cozy. Just a tad bigger than our apartment. I went home and relayed the information to Nathan. Keith had already set up an appointment with Helen and was going to see both as well around 5:00. Nathan told me, "let take the big one." He didn't have to see it to know he wanted it. I had already asked the lady about cats and found out she didn't want animals in her apartments. I decided not to tell this to Nathan and called the lady up. I asked her if I could please pay a pet deposit on top of the $200, because my husband really wanted the apartment but would be broken without the cats. After thinking it over, she told me we could keep the cats and only pay the $200 deposit. Nathan saw the apartment, didn't say anything about wanting it, and went on to the cottage and spoke with Keith. Keith was taking the cottage. I was so happy I could cry. I was getting a dear friend for a neighbor as well. When we got to Helen's house, Nathan spoke up, "We'll take it." I quickly replied to him, "really?!?" My excitement overflowed. Tears were unstoppable at this point. On our walk to the car, I do believe a tear escaped. We talked it all over on our way to Cashiers for the weekend.

Saturday October 18, we paid the deposit and started packing some of my knick knacks. Monday and Tuesday all our possessions except our bed and cleaning solutions were moved. Wednesday we were officially living in our new apartment. This was a miracle that it even happened. Truly a miracle. Nathan and I had always planned that he would have to get a better job in order to be able to live in a bigger apartment. Never did we think we could get a bigger apartment with a second room on what we make now. And with a second room, we can have guests, a baby one day and still have room for another baby another time. There are two rooms right now, but our sun room will convert into a bedroom as soon as we can get rid of one of the sofas in our apartment one day. It belong with the apartment. I am going to ask if I may buy it from her. If that happens, then I will trade it at a thrift store for a chair. God has provided us a miracle that I never dreamed would happen. And it only took three days to get moved into our new home. Though it is new to us, the apartment complex is an old old building built in 1929. It was built with cement walls and floors. No need to worry about termites. We went from having one window and a sliding glass door, to having 27 windows. Literally, I am counting my blessings one by one. I was happy with where I was and saw no need for another place for a long time, and here I am sitting in a miracle that happened in our lives. I call it a miracle and that is what it is. Truly a miracle!