Hi dear Renee! Thanks so much for this update! I'm so glad to hear that you
have some good options and that Craig figured out a way to make your home
more livable. I hope that you'll be able to breathe much better now. May
the Lord indeed give you both grace to trust Him. I can't speak from
experience on wanting to have your husband around more but I imagine that
it's something that every wife who loves her husband has to deal with, just
because life is so full and crazy! I'm sure the other girls will be able to
encourage you in this new season of new challenges :)
So glad to hear about the church too! I've been praying about that. Is it
too far to commute to for now?
I'm sure the Lord is intending all of this to grow you deeper in grace! I'm
pretty sure that's how He accomplishes that! :)
love,
Kristi
Kristi Jeanne Colas
11 rue Henri Dunant
95410 Groslay, France
2018-05-21 20:12 GMT+02:00 Renee O'Leske <larsen.renee@xxxxxxxxx>:
Hi Friends,
Sending an update and prayer request... Craig and I have not found a good
non-smoking rental unit or a house. The housing shortage and prices are a
bit crazy (unless you want to spend almost half a million on a home - then
you can buy something pretty nice and not be in a bidding war with other
offers). We are wanting to be financially prudent with this decision as I
have recently quit working and we are a bit older & just starting a
family...
Thankfully Craig figured out the main issue with the smoke smell coming
into the condo! I am thankful and surprised! This is great for us and for
whoever may buy our condo next. We got the carpeting cleaned last week and
are packing and reorganizing things there. The smoke still comes into the
garage - not sure if we will solve that...
As of right now we are still at my parents' home. It has been a blessing
in many ways (with the new baby, Craig's kidney stone, and just extra
family time). However, we are in desperate need of our own space, and we
don't think it is right to stay with our parents for any longer period of
time. So... by faith we plan to move back into the condo (unless God
provides something soon) by June 1. We believe that is best for us and my
parents as we've been living here for several months now (NEVER expected
this to happen, but thankful for hospitable parents).
We are needing prayer to trust God as Craig will resume his traveling/work
come July and there is no good housing solution in sight. Also, it is
difficult to completely understand why Craig's time off of work to bond
with Kayla has been taken up by this trying time... our time alone together
is so limited it is almost as if Craig is still traveling. (My parents try
to get out of our way as much as possible, and even take trips out to visit
other family which is so nice... but it is still challenging to find
quality alone time together.) Next month I look forward to at least being
back in our own place, but his sister is visiting for 2 weeks at the end of
the month to see Kayla so again, our time together is limited. It is
difficult to have a completely thankful attitude when you don't understand
why God has allowed this time to be taken up like this. (But we admit, we
don't know everything... and God is good.)
We also finally found a church we kinda like, but it is in WestBend which
is perfect if we find a home up in that area (stay in Slinger), but will
not work so well if we find a house in Meno Falls area which is where our
Doctors and work are located... We need wisdom with this as well...
Thankful for God's goodness and mercy and His working in my life through
this time. Praying we hear His voice and grow through this.
Thanks for caring,
-Renee
