Our Sanctuary

Since we returned from New Zealand, we have been blessed with our own rental home. It has occured to me recently that it's really a sanctuary for us. For starters, we don't share it with anyone (with the exception of the occasional overnight guest). Russ & I get to retreat from the mayhem of the work day and the people we spend our days with and enter into a usually quiet, even cozy atmosphere. We don't have electricity in our home - we just use kerosene lanterns. We don't have neighbours on either side of us, which gives us some privacy. There is a church next door, but there's some vacant land in between and the end of the church is nearest to us, not the entrance, which helps with the privacy bit. We can actually go out of the back of the house and enjoy peace. There is a beautiful view, and on a clear day, you can even see the ocean. I love walking out there every morning and seeing only Creation. One of the best things about this house is that there are no pigs next door. So even though we are often awakened by the people across the road who play ridiculously loud music very early in the morning, we are never awakened by pigs. And THAT, my friends, is a gift from God himself.

Here are some pictures:

This is the front. It's a house that was intended for a family after the earthquake, but the contractors who were building it took the money and ran before it was finished, so the owners never moved in because they didn't have the money to finish it themselves. So in order for Medair to rent the house, we gave him the money to finish it (only the bathroom was incomplete) and of course we pay monthly rent.

This is part of our garden. :) We love it. We are also growing Sunflowers and are gonna buy some more plants to plant. We'll eventually plant some veggies too. Just need to buy some more good soil. Everything around our house is just clay.

This is the inside of our house. Notice the nice yellow paint. We painted it when after we moved in.

The middle door is our bedroom. You can kind of see our tent on top of the mattress. The mattress doesn't fit inside. It's not ideal, but when you see spiders the size that we get them here, you wouldn't care either!

This is what happens when you break three out of four kerosene lanterns! Too dark to read (although Russ was trying)!!

This is the view from the back of the house. I love seeing this every morning!

And here's a sunset. Beautiful, eh?

I hope you've enjoyed the little tour. There will likely be a bit of a break from the blogging world (1 - 2 weeks) as Russ & I travel to Nairobi for a couple of training conferences. We won't be going together, but we will have a weekend overlap. We're hoping to get in a one-day safari and visit Dolly & Welli's old church! Please pray for our safety and learning and enjoyment!

Blessings on you!