If Jonah had just gone to Ninevah, instead of....
Some will remember our last PCS: our dog died, our van was stolen, our passports and luggage were stolen...Michael arrived in Japan a month before the children and I could get new birth certificates and passports to fly....base housing wouldn't offer us a home as our "minimum requirements" were more rooms than they had...we were in TLF for three months....You can read more about that if you click the "musing" tab and scroll down to the links under "PCS of a career". We LOVE Japan. We love our home. We love our neighborhood. We do not want to leave Japan.
As another PCS approached we began to pray about the upcoming changes - as we always do and did last time. ::snort:: We've prayed we'll all LEAVE Japan TOGETHER, we'll all ARRIVE at our new assignment TOGETHER, the trip will be UNEVENTFUL, God would go before us and we would NOT have to spend three months in TLF....and could find a home for our BAH (housing allowance) and/or get base housing. We are in downsizing, saving mode as we near retirement. We have a 50th Wedding Anniversary to celebrate in OR on the 20th and a wedding to celebrate in TX on Aug 8th. We prayed we'd be able to find a home and maybe even unpack the week of the 22nd of July - before heading for TX.
We wondered what in the world God was up to when our orders to Beale dropped. Within hours we settled in our hearts God had a reason..... In fact, we've determined to Choose Joy - and have been posting one positive thing about the area each day which we're thankful for on Facebook. This week's reasons to Choose Joy on our way to CA.
- 21 degrees in Misawa this a.m. - 66 degrees at Beale AFB
- Redwoods!
- Closet possible Air Force base to Mom G.
- Lots of Farmer's Markets with fresh produce.
- Sounds like there is a fairly large Japanese community in the area.
- Strawberry fields outside the base gates. Rumors of strawberries year round.
- A home - God has provided a home for us in CA...we will not be spending 3 months in the TLF this move while the Air Force determines what to do with our family.
Did you catch number seven?
Do I have a story for YOU!
When Michael talked with the chaplain he will be replacing, Ch. B mentioned we may be interested in renting his home. He said it was the, "perfect place to raise a family." Obviously, this piqued our interest. If you don't get base housing - most places are a 45 min drive away. Beale appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Ch. B gave us a link to see the listing for their home. It is 18 miles from base. It is 3100 SF, sits on nearly six acres, has two zip lines, a creek you can swim in, trees galore, three car garage, 90 miles from Tahoe, huge garden spot...We dreamed....until Michael got home and we checked the listing. It is lovely. It was over our BAH and we were committed to staying at the monthly BAH. We began to contemplate the drive, pricing in the area, and our budget.
In the meantime Michael talked to another source and was told base housing most likely wouldn't be a good option for us. This source knew Ch. B and his home and said it was as close as we could find, and was a great home. Michael talked with Ch. B again. And.....God is so amazing! Ch. B was willing to lower the price to BAH or a little lower for us....we settled on BAH and we'll handle minor repairs. Amazing.....at a time when our goal has been to "downsize enough to fit into a 2 room Japanese apartment" (and we are and will continue to downsize), God stepped in and plopped a dream home in our laps. It has all the things we'd each love, but never DREAM of putting on a prayer list...zip lines, WINDOWS, breakfast nook....we hadn't even begun to look for a home. Base housing would be 1700 SF and as it is privatized they would have taken our full BAH.....for the same buck we'll have nearly twice the house and a zillion times more the yard (and privacy).
Who finds a rental like this? We had one week between Mom and Dad T's 50th wedding anniversary and leaving for Josiah and Shelby's wedding in TX to find a home and receive our household goods....this home will be available for us when we drive down to CA.
I won't give the address, or town of 1700, because we realize we ARE moving back to the states....but ...here are some photos I've found from times the home has previously been listed. We've had fun trying to figure out how they all go together...and we've not found four bedrooms yet. ::snort:: And even NOW, I asked Michael, "Are you sure this is the right house?" ::snort::
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| Front and side view |
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| Back view - deck wraps around the side |
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| Kitchen - TWO OVENS & a dishwasher! |
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| Family Room or Living Room |
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| Entry and dining room |
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| Living room or Family Room - breakfast nook through arch |
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| Arielle says the laundry room is bigger than their current room - I agree. |
Speaking of big rooms - check out the master bath - it's nearly an onsen.....leading to many jokes about putting a tub outside and sitting nekkid ala onsen style...would the neighbors mind? It IS CA. ::snort::
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| Master Bedroom - sitting room on other side of fireplace |
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| Deck off master bedroom |
I really can't fathom living in this spot for two years!
Ah - and as we've processed I am convinced Zander prayed us into this house. You can read about that here.
Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...
