For the past 3 weeks, Kelvin has been working in Lufkin leaving the kids and I here in Carrollton. They needed people there so badly that they asked him to travel there for work now before we were originally supposed to move in July. They are paying his way including a food and hotel per diem and since he is living very frugally there, we are ending up being able to make a little extra money! That is the only nice part about this situation we are in. Since we were originally going to move mid July when he was transferred, we have been looking for a place in hopes to get the family to Lufkin sooner. We have had NO luck on the internet and I had a suspicion that it was because Lufkin is out in the country and I'm sure no one does many things online these days. So we called up the bishop and he confirmed that suspicion. Most people put up a for rent sign on their front lawn and call it good. Since that doesn't really help us much (Carrollton is 3 1/2 hours away) we decided that it was time for me to make a trip out there. Kelvin's parents were kind enough to watch the little kiddos while I left on Thursday morning and we came back on Friday late afternoon.
Now, Lufkin really feels like an out in the middle of no where town but it's not so desolate as I originally thought. They have a Target, Walmart, even a Sam's club (thought I'm not a big fan). So it's not so bad. Even though the entire mall is probably the size of the bottom floor of JC Penny's in Frisco, at least they have a mall. Plus it's next to a Red Lobster which is one of my favorite restaurants. It still has that small town feel to it and when we went out to eat Thursday night at Red Lobster, the place was practically empty at 9pm. Not what I am used to but I can adjust. When we went hunting for a place there weren't any parks around which then nixed living in an apartment. Those poor kids can't be trapped inside all day everyday with no where to run around. Lydia would go crazy and bring me along with her! So we started to check out houses. I must say I was shocked to see that it cost just as much to rent a house there as it does here!!! Even the apartment we were looking at was the same price we pay in the city. It was a bummer since you would have thought that it would have been WAY cheaper, but I guess with the banks being more strict on mortgages, more people are renting there than buying. So you get what you get.
We looked for what felt like forever with very little progress on Thursday night. We did have an appointment Friday morning to look at a house and it was nice, although very outdated and probably never been upgraded since it was built in the 70's. It needed paint, a patio, flooring, and cabinets for a start. It would have been a lot of work, not to mention that it only held a stack washer and dryer in the house. We would have to put ours outside on the side of the house. They were asking a little too much for the condition the house was in. We drove through lots of neighborhoods but found nothing. Needless to say, we were quite discouraged. After talking about it for a while though we decided to be thankful in the end and knew that the Lord would provide.
The next week when Kelvin went to work, one of his co-workers asked about our house hunting trip. Kelvin told him we didn't find anything and were still looking. The very next day he approached Kelvin with a house that his church owned that the pastor said would rent out to good people. After assuring the pastor that Kelvin was a respectable guy the pastor agreed to talk with the church board about it. It is in an even smaller town outside of Lufkin (dirt roads, gravel driveways, basically your average country song) on 8 acres of land. A lot of renovation had just been done to it and the pastor who is 70 is tired of traveling there to keep up the place. Enter a good family who needs a place to live and you've got the perfect situation. I feel so good about this house even though I've never seen it. We still haven't heard back from the church about whether they will rent it to us or not, but I think it will come through. It's just now waiting to know when we can start the moving process. I am getting a little nervous since it's been 2 weeks since Kelvin was first approached by the guy, but these things take time sometimes so I'm trying to be patient and praying A LOT that we don't have to start from square one again.
Anyway, while I was gone and the kiddos were having a good time his parents got some pictures of them.
My sweet sweet baby boy!
She loves being outside.
Watering the plants.
Who wouldn't love this adorable face!
