I wrote yesterday that we had been denied by Cares based on our credit report. We found out today that it was because we had more than $8k in debt, and that is against their policies. Pretty bummed about the whole thing. I am not mad at Cares, but really confused about what I thought was fairly clear direction from God. Not much to do about it now other than keep pushing and try to come up with plan B. I guess in reality we are probably up to plan S or T by now.

With the car being totalled (I guess that is what you call it when the damage is 4 times more than what the car is worth) we had to do something with it so Triann made some calls and met a salvage guy at the body shop and sold the car to him today. We didn’t get much for it, but anything is better than nothing.

Now it is time to put that in the bank and start adding to it to come up with another ride. I should be able to add some to that from the sale of some bike parts. That is an interesting story that I don’t think I have shared. After the bank took the bike and it was sold at auction I received a letter in the mail from the guy that bought it. Not sure how he got my information but I was happy that he did. He said in his letter that he was sorry that I had lost my bike but that he would take real good care of it and that he noticed there were racks for bags on the bike and wanted to know if I was willing to sell them and if I had any other parts. I sent him back some prices for the bags and the other odds and ends I still had and we made a deal today. Again, not a ton but every bit will help. So that will be added to the funds from the BMW, the additional parts that I plan to sell on ebay or craigslist and our tax return. When that is all put together we will see what we have to work with. Triann and I both agree that a bike makes the most sense right now. I will be able to get a much more reliable bike for the amount we assume we will have in the account when all is said and done.

Back to housing. We signed a one year lease when we got here last year and Tara has been living with us and helping with the rent. She has now found a perfect apartment and has moved out. With our lease up in June, a 4 bedroom house and a higher rent than we are comfortable with it is time to find another place. We would really like to stay close to this area for Emily’s school and for church but a little concerned at this point about how much trouble we are going to have finding a place based on the problems we had with Cares. Frustrating part is that even with outrageous rents we have had over the last 3 years (2100 and 1900/month in San Diego), we have never been late on a payment. I am not sure if that will be a compensating factor but praying that we can find something that fits the budget, is close to school/church and that will allow us to rent without paying for the whole year up front.

Not sure what inspiring words I can put at the end here. I am not overly inspired right now. I don’t think I am as frustrated as I was yesterday but not on top of the glee wagon either. It would be so easy to start complaining and grumping about all of this (and maybe that is what I am doing here) but I am afraid that if I really start down that path I might not stop and that won’t help anything. I can say today (couldn’t yesterday) that I know we are still alright. We are alive, Triann is doing good, we have a roof and food and transportation so there is no justification in saying that He isn’t watching out for us. It’s just hard sometimes to keep watching certain things fall apart and not have any clue what is next. I know by now I should have that under control. I know that God promises to give us strength to get through and he has. So maybe this is a time to take inventory of all the things that we have and look forward to whatever the next challenge is. (knock on wood)

E