A long overdue update

Greetings, friends, family, and...others! :D

Quite a lot has happened since I updated...plans have been made, and then broken, etc. Live has been CRAZY.

I would have updated you on all this earlier, but I guess I wanted to wait until everything was pretty much signed, sealed and delivered...well, I suppose one might assume that done now, so we might as well commence with the update. ;)

1.) Our house went into escrow about two/three weeks ago! The man who is in the process of buying the house plans to redo it and sell it as an investment, which is possibly the best kind of buyer ever because we don't have to worry about keeping the carpet looking nice anymore; he's just going to tear it out anyway. ;) So, that is the good news, the bad news is that it's a thirty-day escrow, and we're nearly done with it. We're going to rent the house from him another month (till the end of October), but that leaves us with another problem, which is addressed below.

2.) Something went haywire with our builders in Chicago and for reasons which are too complicated and idiotic to explain here, we will NOT be moving into our house in December; in fact they haven't even started to build it yet. All of the houses have been pushed back to February/March. The good news is that we are being treated as a top priority due to reasons which don't exactly apply to us, but even after my dad explained that to them, we're still on the top of the list. But hey, if you look at it this way, due to their delay we now have to find a place to rent for five months for a family of eleven. *gulp*

3.) Since we will no longer be moving this winter, we've decided to hang around Southern California until our house is ready and rent out here. We always knew that moving in the dead of winter was going to be tough, but trying to rent in the dead of winter would be even worse. So if we rent down here, not only do we get to avoid the worst of the winter all together, but we get to stick around and enjoy you people for five/six extra months!  *cue the Hallelujah Chorus*

So, there you have it in a nutshell. We are most definitely staying down here until February at the very, very earliest, so you're going to want put a hold on your long-planned celebratory parties and bonfires...we're not leaving quite yet. ;)

The Lord DOES work in mysterious ways; I see that more clearly every day. When we first heard about this builder problem, it was all doom and gloom...we were even wondering if we should even continue to buy the house after all. But the Lord smoothed out the worst of the problems and ended up giving us an extra blessing...more time down here in California, and our not having to winter up there this year.
Of course there's always a flip side to everything, and that side to this particular thing would be that we have to find a place to rent out here, which for us always equals -$$$. It's not an expense we were planning on, but you know...the Lord is our provider. Somehow, some way, I know everything will all work out for the best. It always has before. :)

Anyway, there's the update. Not as long and eloquent as others, but I think it gets the job done nicely. ;) Please continue to pray for us....it ain't over yet. By a long shot. Your prayers are coveted during what is sure to be one of the most busy, stressful and yet interesting time in my life!

God bless you all!