We're getting closer to our move to the Buffalo area! About a month ago we accepted an offer on our house. It was another confirmation to me that God is really working everything out for us to do what He has called us to do. Our house went on the market in mid-February. For a full month we had 1-2 families come to view it each week. It was tough to keep the house looking perfectly for showings with a 3 year old and a 5 year old running around. I was kinda tired of it! I actually prayed that no one else would come to look at our house unless they were actually going to make an offer. Then, for a full month no one came to look at our house. No one made any calls inquiring about it. Nothing for a full month. We were getting a little worried. Ray said he would call our realtor and see if there was something we should do. Before he got around to it, our realtor called Ray. He said we needed to think about dropping our price. The thing is, we listed our house exactly where we needed it to sell for so that we wouldn't lose money. Ray told our realtor that he would talk to me about it and we would get back to him. Five minutes later, our realtor was calling Ray back to tell him to forget about lowering the price for now because someone had just called to schedule a viewing. Long story short, we accepted an offer on the house 4 days later. We've had the home inspection and the bank appraisal, so now we just need to schedule the closing date, which will likely be July 2nd. We won't be buying another house for awhile, but we will be living in a very nice duplex apartment in Clarence. It's got 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a garage, and a big yard to play in. Clarence is known to have the best public elementary
schools in the Buffalo area, and I have a soon-to-be
kindergartner! Everyone tells us that Clarence is a great town to live in, and we are hoping that it will feel like home once we get settled in there.
The last major part of the transition that needs to fall into place is securing part-time jobs in the area. I've secretly had my heart set on working for an agency that I found on-line called Jericho Road Ministries. They work with refugees beyond the 6 month resettlement period, where resettlement agencies leave off. They offer so many great services to help refugees on their road to self-sufficiency. There may be a part-time position opening there in the Fall. If there is an opening, I'm definitely going to apply! We'll see how God leads. In the meantime, I'm planning on working for my current job, but switching to the Albion office, which is a 45 minute commute. I've been spoiled because my current commute is 5 minutes or less, but I know 45 minutes is not a horrible commute. And to help make it manageable, my supervisor has agreed to let me consolidate my half days into longer days so that I will be working the same hours, but fewer days. So I'm pretty set for now with my job. Ray may have more difficulty securing a part time because most of his education and work experience has been in ministry. Please pray for him to find a good paying part time job with a schedule that works for our family!
Finally, I'd like to ask for prayer for our kids and their transition. I'm not really worried about Ava, but Jonas has a very hard time with change. He's already had some moments of anger and anxiety about the upcoming move. When that happens we just try to validate his feelings while encouraging him at the same time. I know he'll be fine once we meet a few friends in our new town, but getting there will be tough for him.
We're really excited about helping to launch Epic Church! Our first monthly preview service will be on Father's Day. We'll have one service in June, one in July, one in August, and then weekly services (and our official launch) starting on September 15th. It's almost here! My next blog post will probably be an update on our new life in Clarence and Epic Church. Stay tuned!
