A Place to Live...

One of the biggest challenges we have faced in the wedding planning is finding a place for the five of us to call home! Currently Ron and I each live in a 2-bedroom apartment. He brings 3 children to the new household...I come with a scrapbook room! Consequently, we need quite a bit of room. But besides the need for room, we have other restrictions to our search. We have to remain in the Redlands School District, the price has to be reasonable (and I mean rea-son-a-ble), and it can't take Ron too much further from the metrolink train station for his commute to and from Orange County. Other than that... The ideal location would have been actually in Redlands, so the kids could walk to school and a little less stress in getting them to their various after school activities. However, like much of Southern California - Redlands is a pretty expensive place to live and especially when you need a sizeable place.
We have been praying for a house, condo, townhouse - with a minimum of 3 bedrooms and the hope there would also be a place for me to scrapbook. While actually calling on a property in Redlands, I heard about 2 properties in Loma Linda, which is a little college/bedroom community on the outskirts of Redlands. Loma Linda is where Ron lives now and is in the Redlands School District. We found a 4 bedroom, 1-3/4 bath home, with a huge back yard and a bonus room off of the patio in a nice neighborhood for rent - at a price we could hardly believe for the size of home. It's kid proof, too - having tile and wood floors, no carpets to soil! It's not in pristine condition, but it's not torn up either. Trust me, in my many years of renting homes during my first marriage, I have rented much worse places! Anyway, after seeing the house, talking to the realtor (who we just hit it off with immediately), filling out the paperwork and waiting a week... we found out last Friday, May 4, that we were approved to rent the house! Oh, my! What a relief! We will get the keys on May 29 and one of us will begin moving in soon thereafter. We're still working out the who is moving when details...but we are assured of this: God is so good. Our prayers were too small, but God came through with more than we had asked or imagined! Praise Him!