God Will Provide

So after Danielle and Shelby signed the lease last week to move into my house on August 1st, I realized that I needed to start looking seriously at places to live in Greenville. Since I put an ad for my house on Craigslist, I of course started looking there myself for places to live. I found a TON of listings! Friends and my cousins had told me certain areas to look in and some to steer away from. So I was pleased to find several listings that boasted of hardwood floors, maple cabinets, close proximity to downtown, etc. Well, let me just tell you in case I'm not the last to realize that you can make anything look good on the internet! The first place I looked was a townhouse in Taylors with mauve carpet and 3 TINY bedrooms. The next place was even worse. This was the house that the owner bragged about hardwood floors, maple cabinets, 2 minutes from downtown. First of all, it was off of a dirt/gravel road. The first thing I saw when I walked in was cracked...actually, crumbling tile floor in the kitchen around the door and the fridge...which, oh by the way, didn't come with the house! I don't know who expects for renters to bring their own fridge. Oh, but the best part was the window A/C unit! That's right! No central air...just a window unit...in SOUTH CAROLINA! Needless to say, I left there hoping never to return.

I was realistic at the onset though. I knew that I was going to have to see a few dumps before I found my palace and I kept reminding myself of that as the day went on. I decided to head on to Tres and Angie's (cousins) house where I was staying for the night. They have been so gracious in letting me stay often and talking to friends of theirs about places they might know of for rent. Tres pulled up the classifieds from the Greenville News and was able to show me on a map where to look and where not to look which was very helpful. We then headed downtown with the kiddos (Jaxson and Maddie--their two CUTE, CUTE, CUTE little ones) for an awesome dinner. After dinner Tres drove all around downtown to look for "For Rent" signs. Angie copied down the numbers and addresses while Tres and I looked. I felt a glimmer of hope that I might find "the place" the next day.

After two rather unimpressive (and far from downtown, I might add) townhomes, I ended up at an English cottage in the heart of the very covetted Augusta Road area of Greenville. Here it is...isn't it cute?

The couple that owned it were so nice. They came straight from church to show me the house. Two bedrooms, renovated kitchen, beautiful hardwood floors, 2 small rooms and a cute bathroom. There was a huge backyard...a plus for Sierra, not so much for me (I have not inherited Mom's green thumb as of yet) and a big deck along with a basement big enough to store all the furniture I probably wouldn't be able to fit in the small rooms. Needless to say, I fell in love with it and thought I had found my palace!

The catch was that it was a little out of my price range. I even talked the couple down $75 a month! But I was still excited and started thinking about ways that I could cut back and save money to be able to afford the rent. I called Mom and Dad and they were excited for me. But as I drove out of Greenville towards Columbia, reality set in. I started adding up all of my expenses and realized that this cute little house in a perfect part of town was just a bit too much for my budget to support. I walked into Mom and Dad's house and Dad asked me what I had decided and I told him I didn't think I'd be able to do it. And then I really got upset (yes, the waterworks were in full effect) when I realized that come August 1, I didn't have MY house anymore...the house that I love! Two other girls were going to be moving in making it their own for the time being and that really made me sad and made me question my decision to move. This decision that I had been so sure of months ago. This decision that after a lot of prayer I truely felt God had put me at peace with all of a sudden didn't seem so peaceful anymore.

Mom and Dad reassured me and offered their support and wisdom as they always do and I was on my way back to Charleston. On my way home I was pretty frustrated and very anxious. I've been reading a great book lately by Joanna Weaver called "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." I highly recommend it to all you busy girls out there! It's great! Anyways...one of the chapters is about worry vs. concern. She talks about how we shouldn't worry about anything because the Lord isn't going to give us anything we can't handle. There's a 12 week Bible study that goes along with the book so I've been keeping a journal while I've been reading the book. Below is one of the themes I pulled from this particular chapter and had to write in my journal. It's become one of the mottos that I live by (along with "You can do anything for a year," and "You only live once").

I kept trying to remind myself of this but still felt a bit disheartened. But then a bus pulled in front of me. That's right, a bus. As I looked at the bus, I read the message on the back of the bus.

Now, I'm not usually one of these people that reads into every little sign that I see, but this was too much of a coincidence. I think sometimes God has to yell things to me rather than speak them because I don't pick up on his message very often! :) And after I saw the bus, I knew that I needed to sit back and relax. I won't be homeless. I will find a place to live. I just need to let go of the reigns a bit and see where I end up! Pray for me though! I'll still need it!

I'm heading back up to Greenville this past weekend to check out a few other possibilities! I'll keep you all posted! Thanks for checking in! Stop by again!