June 27, 2006--An offer

We put on offer in on a house yesterday--the one I mentioned in my last post. They were asking $49,000, we offered $42,000, and they counter-offered at $45,000 and we accepted it. We also qualified for a no-income no-asset loan that is based entirely on our credit. They have these for people (like us) who have a hard time proving their income. Erick has been getting jobs here and there, and has some lined up, but to try and contruct a financial statement wouldn't be easy since he has no tax records from this new enterprise of his.

We are scheduled to close on this loan on August 21. I'll be looking forward to not having to drive so far to church. It's only about twenty minutes from here, but we go to church a lot and if Erick is going to be helping out there more often, it's going to be necessary to be closer. Part of me still wishes we could live out in the country with no neighbors, but if we are going to be involved in ministry we probably should be closer to the people we want to minister to and not seclude ourselves out in the country.

We still haven't had any call-backs on any of the jobs Erick has applied for, but we are really starting to feel that God is leading us in the direction of self-employment. For one thing, if he's working a 40 hour a week job, he's going to have a hard time putting in any time over at the church. Self-employment would give him the flexibility he needs to get that experience. With this new loan we are getting, I don't have to prove my income and so I'm going to be drastically cutting my hours at work. My working right now is holding him back from getting his business going. He doesn't have enough time to get done what he needs to get done. It just doesn't make any sense for him to have to leave his work making $25+ per hour to come back home so I can get to my $7 an hour job on time.

This house we are buying has a good sized garage, and we could put up a small engine repair sign and he could do work out of the garage. There aren't very many people around here who do that kind of work and they charge a lot and are backed up. There is a lot of work around here to do for someone who will do it--not just small engine repair, but siding, roofing, and other general remodeling jobs.

Erick is loving the slower pace of life. He's been so busy the last four years that he hasnt' had time to just slow down and enjoy life. It's really good for him. We're going through a really neat series at church on Sunday nights called "A Heart Ablaze" and we've been just enjoying this time to rest and get closer to God--stop being Marthas and becoming Marys for a little while.