All I Need Is You, Lord!

Today we decided to laugh instead of cry. The last two mornings we have gone to the front desk and asked to stay one more night just hoping that we can find an apartment. Oh yea and we have moved rooms each time with our four giant suitcases and four (to large to qualify as carry-ons but somehow we made it work) smaller bags. Today when Landry said I think we are gonna do another night they said as of now they are full. O goodness, we have been calling other hotels but the pro bowl football game is sunday and everywhere is booked. This could get really interesting. We started thinking about buying a tent and camping. Someone told me of a place called tent city when I looked it up it is more like a homeless shelter, but technically we do qualify as homeless at the time. I started laughing hysterically and Landry said "Babe, I like your attitude," that is when I said I am laughing so I don't cry. I don't know why I feel so calm when this seems to be a stressful situation. God's arms are holding me so tightly right now. More than ever in my life I feel as if every step and move I make has a purpose and God is leading me everyday to the place he wants us to be. After we got our hotel room for one more night we began frantically searching for apartments. As I have said before it is so different finding an apartment here than in Nashville. There is no main office to go in and ask someone if any are available and if you can see them. They are sold by individuals or companies and they only way to see them is to find them on the internet and call to make appointments. Plus the are way more expensive with less square feet and few amenities. We have been searching craigslist like crazy. We set up two appointments back to back. The first one we went to was a high rise right behind Landry's new job. He can walk to work everyday which is a huge bonus since we only have one car. I can then take the car to my job instead of the bus. It is on the 14th floor and has a huge picture window with  the most breath taking view. You can see all the way to pearl harbor on one side and diamond head on the other. The windows were open and the breeze was fantastic. Which is a good thing because there is no air conditioning. I never thought about it I guess, but most places here do not. I love it, how amazing a place is this that you can leave your windows open and God can keep the temperature just right for you. It is a large one bedroom with everything we need fridge, stove, and wash and dryer( which is also very rare) most apartments have coin laundry or if you do have machines they are on the outside. There are tennis and basketball courts and a pool outside which also are added bonuses. We left feeling excited and in awe of all God is providing. He is providing all we need and also several things we just want. The next appointment was did not go as smoothly as the previous. We waited a while in a pretty sketchy area for the lady to show up and I wanted to leave several times. She showed us two apartments way over our budget and neither one of them were the picture or price of the one we saw online and had called about. We viewed them quickly and were glad to check them off our list of options. Then Landry found on craigslist a guest house behind a house for rent and it is so cute. I fell in love with the picture. We called and the tenant was out of town but they gave us the address and said we could take a look at the outside and if we are interested we could see it tomorrow night. We drove over immediately. It is on a hill with a great view, has a little swing in the yard and a mango tree (how stinking cool). It is a tiny 2 bedroom one bath and yes the washer and dryer are in the back yard. It is surrounded by tropical flowers and plants and just want I envisioned living in here, but it is not as practical as the high rise apartment. The neighbors all live very close and I am not sure if it is a safe area or not which is a big concern for me because Landry works late hours and I will be alone often. It is right behind another house which means walking up the hill through their yard everyday and there is little to no parking on the street in front. I think it is more of a fantasy than a reality. We left there and rushed to our hotel to meet a couple from church that was bringing us out to eat. They picked us up and brought us to one of the military bases. He was in the navy for several years. We went to a Mongolian barbecue. You get a bowl and fill it up with fresh veggies and raw meet then put whatever sauces you choose, they cook it on the grill and then you add rice of your choice. The food was delicious and I embarrassingly devoured my bowl and Landry only ate half. I think it tasted so good to eat vegetables since we have been driving through every meal to save money. We ate in a pavilion right on the water, he told us it was the only channel to get in and out of pearl harbor and a lot of times you could see submarines come up to surface there. After supper they drove us over to a place called the "lemon lot" where when military people leave the island and don't want to ship their car they put it for sale. All the cars have a paper in the window with the price, Landry was in heaven. It was raining but he still got out and walked around looking in the window of every car. There was a mini cooper, a couple jeeps, a convertible car, a baby blue volts wagon van (that I am strangely attracted to) and lots of other kinds. They showed us around base and then brought us to the Navy Exchange, a big store with no tax that only military people can shop in. We are figuring out more and more that most people that are not local here are military and we don't fit into either category. God is opening my eyes to see how it feels to be a minority which I have really never experienced. We came back to the hotel and crashed at nine o'clock since I have been waking up between 4 and 5 am every morning still not used to the time change. My prayer today is to see past skin color and culture. Lord help me to see people as you see them.