The Joys of Home Ownership...

Hello, friends!

Happy Friday to you all and happy heatwave! It's been consistently in the mid to high 90's here in Missouri for the past week or two, which has been a bit of a bummer but we're making it work! Ezra and I have been taking a lot of "indoor walks" which essentially means strapping him in the Ergo and walking around our living room in circles around our coffee table. For some reason, he really loves it!

One of the things that is really nice about the summer is that it gives us a chance to do all the things that didn't get done during the school year and start to prepare for the year to come. This usually means meeting with potential donors, doing prayer and strategy for our chapters, setting goals, and things like that. However, it also means we get to take some time and take care of the personal stuff that doesn't quite take priority during the year. Of course, then there are the disasters...

Friends, the past 2 months have felt like a comedy of errors of sorts when it comes to La Casa Leong here in CoMO. In just the past few weeks we've had:

- Our washing machine die
- Having to install a new electrical box so we can use our new dryer
- Our garage door needing to be fixed
- The toilet not filling well so the pump having to be replaced
- Our basement flooding so having the carpet all torn out and having to put in new carpet

I'm sure there are other things that we've had to do and have had to get done but those are the big ones that jump out to me from the past 2 months or so.

The biggest issue, of course, is that all of this costs money. Washing machines aren't cheap. Neither is carpet. Thankfully, we aren't big spenders in general so we have the savings set up to take care of these things without any stress. Also, insurance has helped us cover much of the cost too. So, while it isn't much fun to deal with all of this, it also isn't totally devastating.

All said and done, these past few weeks of home fixing has actually made me really thankful. I'm thankful that we have the money to cover all these things. I'm thankful for our ministry partners who give to the ministry, allowing us to spend money on the things we need. I'm thankful that I have a house to begin with and that it's actually something that we own. I'm thankful for insurance. I'm thankful for all the nice people, from the guy who ripped out our carpet to the guy who installed our dryer outlet, who have been nothing but helpful, kind and courteous. I'm thankful that Meg and I have been able to partner together in making our house a home. I'm thankful that these fixes haven't had an adverse affect on Ezra. I'm thankful that this is all happening during the summer when there is more flex time. Ultimately, I'm thankful because God is good.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam