A lot of things have been happening lately.
1. Mackenzie had her tonsils and adnoids out. The surgery went well and she is doing great. Praise the LORD!
2. JohnMark wil be having tubes put in his ears this Monday (5/21). The thought is that it will help cut down on the ear infections that he has been having. The doctors think that he is having the ear infections because of the lung problems, which they think are a result of the mold in the house we are in now. Getting out of the house and out of the mold will probably help his lungs, along with all the rest of us, and his ears, but it will still be a few months before we can move.
3. This one is the coolest yet! We have been selected to receive a home from Habitat for Humanity of Freeborn/ Mower County. Not only that, but Freeborn Lumber is donating all the materials and the labor. The house is going to be built entirely by professional builders. Even the plumbing and electical will be done by professionals who are donating their time. The house will be 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, but the basement will have the plumbing for another bathroom and an egress window for a fourth bedroom. The lot is on the small side (45 x 132), but it will be plenty big for the house (26 x 80). They are not building us a garage, but they will be giving us a parking pad and grading the alley so we can get into the back yard from the alley. Before we can move in we have to put in 450 hours of "sweat equity," but this will go quickly. Other people can help and donate hours, up to 150, and any time someone is watching the children so we can volunteer it counts for our hours. And that is not part of the 150 so there is no limit. For example, if someone is watching our kids and we are both volunteering, we are earning 3 hours of credit for each hour of actual time. The hours also do not all have to be associated with Habitat for Humanity. When we volunteer at church (nursery, Sunday school, King's Kids, etc) those hours will count. Please pray that we can get our hours done soon. We also need to raise/ earn a considerable amount of money to have on hand before moving. We have to pay our first year of insurance up front along with some other costs. Please pray that God helps us to sacve and find this money. The neatest thing is that we will be on much higher ground than we are now, so no more flooding in the basement, we are one house down and across the street from the playground end of an elementary school, and about 1/2 a block from Albert Lea Lake. It is in a nice, safe part of town. The people with Habitat told us it is likely the nicest part of town they have built in yet. PRAISE BE TO GOD!!
