We have a lot

After many on-again, off-again plans to build on one lot or another, we finally have a lot under contract that we believe is our final choice! Yeah, ideally I'd love to stay in Hillsborough where our church is, but those doors did not open for us, so we will be not too far away over in northwest Durham in a nice neighborhood. Being just a few minutes from the gym will definitely be an advantage and we'll also be more convenient to the grocery store, Matt's sisters, and lots of restaurants and stores (not that we're doing much shopping or eating out these days, but still!). So we're excited to hopefully begin building at the end of the month!

Now comes a different stage that will have its own challenges. I'm praying that we will stick to our guns of using this opportunity to build a low-cost house so that we have enough money for our everyday needs and helping other people. To start with, since this was the only lot we oculd find in our location and price range that didn't have problems, we're having to build bigger than we wanted to. But it won't be a huge house and we're trying to keep it as simple as we can.

It is soo easy to start looking at stuff for the house and thinking, "Well that would be nice and it's not *that* expensive." And then the justification begins of why it's okay to have an upgrade here and there, or a $1400 refrigerator instead of the one we had and loved that was half that cost (we almost did that a few weeks ago!). So I have to keep reminding myself of the truth: We need to build a house that is efficient and works and it's fine to make it a place we enjoy, but spending extra on things that are "nice" is not going to bring us happiness and it is going to take money away from what we could otherwise spend on people who really need our help.

So please pray with me that we will keep our eyes on the prize in this endeavor...the prize being the act of loving and serving Jesus and others, not storing up stuff for ourselves in some fancy house.