Welcome Home!

This is the place we all prayed toward for so long. We thought we'd be able to purchase it in our name, but at the last minute we learned that Americans can't buy land. It is now in Pavel's name, but it is "ours." The cost? $13,000.

The house is about 600 square feet. It has electric (which needs to be redone), no plumbing, kitchen nor bathroom. Ron already put a pump on the well outside the front door. We take the pump in when we leave the property. Our gate needs major repair and until we move things won't be safe.

We were surprised to have several people from church show up to help us clear the yard. What a blessing! One Romanian woman tackled pulling out part of the fence by herself, after she saw me struggling. We've decided to wait to deal with the overgrown vineyard until this fall, but Pavel was still able to plow a good sized garden beside it.

A man and his son from church came to help haul away junk. There really wasn't much., but it made me smile to have them help. I love seeing these carts and horses.

We'd like to be able to move in by late July. We hope to get a bathroom and a kitchen put in, as well as heating and new electric. We also need to patch the roof and seal the floors with cement. (Right now they are packed dirt.) The cost to update the home will be similiar to costs in the States, so finances are a factor. Materials are available at some of the super stores (45 min. away) which have come in with the European Union.

Many of the Romanians in the village live in similiar homes. About 1/2 of them have indoor plumbing. The folks that have larger homes usually work on them in stages. Sometimes it takes years to get the outside finished, or the windows in.

We are excited about what God has given us. We've been living with others since we sold our place in America in July of 2008. It'll be great to move out of suitcases and have a home of our own!

(By the way, did you notice God's Hugs to Paula? Three beautiful rose bushes, and a walnut tree!)