Our Story, Part 9

 

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Then one day a call came from an academic institution in Houston, Texas.  One thing led to another, and after a Skype interview and a few weeks of waiting for a response, Claude had a job offer.

We had turned the corner, made it round the bend.  The Lord had heard our prayers and lifted up our cause.  Our waiting had ended and we were ready for a new adventure!

That new adventure started with a lot of purging and packing.  A one bedroom apartment can only hold so much stuff, but we did have 6 people living there.  It surprised me just how much we could fit in small quarters!

Because most of our stuff had been taken from the curb or given to us near the end of its life, we opted to give and throw away most of what we owned.  We kept clothes (except things the kids had already outgrown), linens, kitchen items, and our mattresses.  Everything else had to go because we were going to be moving in this:

Everything we wanted to take with us (including passengers!) fit into a 5'x9' trailer, our minivan, and a Toyota Corolla.

A 5'x9' trailer only holds so much and we knew that even if we were liberal in clearing out, it would be a tight squeeze.  In an effort to keep track of what would fit and what needed further sorting, I taped off an area in our living room just smaller than the dimensions of the trailer.  We even marked on the wall just how high the trailer would be, always leaving some wriggle room.

While I worked on the apartment, Claude was busy looking online for leads on rentals homes in Houston.  He did a lot of research and we decided to look in one particular area to be reasonably close to his job but in an area that was affordable.  We weren't aware until later that the main area we were looking is not particularly safe.

One week before our scheduled departure, Claude hopped on a plane to take a quick house hunting trip.  He was graciously hosted by some friends of ours and put in contact with a real estate agent who would help him view the homes we were considering.  We put in an application on one house the same day Claude viewed it, but we found out within hours that it was very unsafe in that particular neighborhood.

Our packing in progress.  The last two photos were taken on the day that we moved out of our apartment.  Claude did an awesome job carting everything out to the trailer and fitting it in just right!

I'm still amazed at how God works, because this was a huge disappointment to us.  But we did have a second choice - the only house in a different and safe area.  That's right.  There was only one house we looked at that was in a good area.  And there was already an application on it.

In the mean time, my parents had booked a flight to come and help us move in.  We were scheduled to arrive in Houston October 29-30 and my parents' flight arrived on November 2.  At that point we weren't even sure if we would have a house.  Talk about trusting The Lord!

I thought we should take along these little guys, too!

 A couple of days before we started to drive we were notified that our application for the house was accepted!  Praise The Lord!  We arranged to get keys on October 31 and move in November 1.  We were excited!  Now all that stood between us and a the start of a new adventure was a 1,700 mile drive with a 5-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 3-month old.  But it would be fine, right?  Really, how rough could it be?  We had already traveled from New York to Melbourne with three kids 4 years and under.  The car trip would be a piece of cake in comparison!  Mmm-hmm...

To be continue...