Where We Are Now! (Part 3...THE END!)

I thought that the day our house went up for sale was the hardest day of my life. Well, little did I know that June 16th would be the next hardest day. Our house had been up for sale now for 5 months and we had over 25+ showings but no contracts. Our last day at our current church was June 10th and we were to be in PA for the following Sunday, June 17th. We knew leading up to this date that since the house had not sold at this point that we were not able to buy or even rent a place there.  We began to come up with solutions along with the help of the minister in PA. He said he would send out an email to the members to see if anyone would be able to help us out. We continued to pray that God would provide in ways we didn't think were possible.
Shortly after that, we got an email that there was a couple who had a one bedroom apartment that we could use for a while. Again, God provides, yet I was so hesitant about everything. Where was this apartment, how far from the church, what condition was it in, how much did we have to pay for it? So many questions, so little time, so I did the only thing I could do and continued to do non-stop. PRAY! After many discussions and prayers, we decided that it would be best for Nathan to head to PA on the 16th by himself to get things situated and figure out our living situation while the kids and I stayed home.
Now, if you know us well, you know that we are a very close family and we do not like to be apart for more than a few days. We are the family that goes grocery shopping together every week. So when we decided that we would spend 2 weeks apart, my heart ached, but I knew it was the right thing to do for our family at the time. We knew that the changes that were about to happen were going to be enough for the kids and we didn't want them to remember the 1st week or so living in PA to be horrible. We wanted to make sure we had a place to call home and transition into easily for them.

 So, June 16th arrives and we are not looking forward to saying good-bye. The kids were crying, I was crying....and even Nathan had a few tears in his eyes. We said our good-byes and watched him pull out of the driveway with a car full of what he would need for the next two weeks. I will never forget that day, watching him pull away from our house, and knowing it would be two weeks until we saw him again.  The kids and I spent the rest of the day crying on the couch and watching movies together. It was a horrible day.

We tried to keep busy those two weeks. The kids had final playdates with close friends, we went to our favorite places and restaurants, and Blake spent a weekend at camp with my mom and Scott and his two granddaughters. I continued to pack up the house as much as I could. We had decided that we would leave everything at the house. We knew that we did not have a place to put it in PA and we couldn't afford a storage unit on top of a mortgage. We were only taking our clothes, a few toys for the kids and some of the kitchen stuff that we use a lot. That was it. Everything else stayed. My father-in-law came down that next weekend and helped me pack up some things and we headed to Canton, where the kids and I spent the next week visiting family. It was so great to see everyone and spend so much time with them. Then the next weekend, Nathans dad followed the kids and I to PA to reunite with Nathan. We could not get through the 5 1/2 hour drive fast enough.

We arrived and I will never forget seeing Nathan at the end of the driveway as I came up over that hill on our street. I was so excited to see him as were the kids. They were both screaming and yelling and couldn't wait to get out of the car. We saw this, (picture on the left) on the driveway! It was awesome!!! We said our hellos and gave several hugs and kisses and then Nathan showed us around the place we would call home! It was perfect! I was so excited to see it and knew that this was the next piece of the puzzle that God was providing and it was better than I could have imagined. We have a great little one bedroom apartment that is off the side an amazing family's home.
Fast Forward to September.......WE GOT AN OFFER!!!! Whoo Hooo!!! After a few back and forth counter offers, the offer was accepted and the HOUSE WAS SOLD!! We were so thankful that God again provided yet another piece to our puzzle. So we were headed to Ohio, when we realized that it was almost exactly a year to the date that we had 1st been in PA for Nathan's trail sermon and driving this exact same route back to Ohio trying to see where it was that God was leading us. Now a year later, driving that same route, we know exactly where He is leading us....we are there!!! Once we arrived at Shawnee Run, we packed up the rest of our belongings, even got to meet the new home owner and then headed back home......to PA!! It was a whirlwind of a weekend. We got to spend time with several close friends, the kids got to have some playdates and we spent the final night together as a family camped out on the floor of our bedroom. It was perfect.
God provided in so many ways that I am not sure words can describe just how amazing our God truly is. We knew that we were going to lose some money on our house, hoping it was not too much, but planned and had been saving just in case. Without getting into to much of our private financial situation,  we had just the right amount of money we needed to pay at closing in our savings account. We were left with very little to spare and felt total peace with that. Had we not known that this was what God was wanting us to do, had we not relied on Him to provide in every situation, had we not continued to pray and remain faithful and patient, we would have walked away from this situation in a financial crisis and with a totally different attitude about everything.
 We are so thankful for the McKenzie's, the family we are living with.  The love and support they have for our family is amazing. We will be staying with them until we can get our feet back on the ground and find a place of our own. They love our kids and are even building them a small room off of ours for them to sleep in so they don't have to sleep on the floor anymore. That is love!
We love the church we are at now, Capital Area Christian Church, and the wonderful families we have met. This place has so much love to give and we are excited to be a part of their team. Nathan is getting to preach and is really in his element when he is up on stage sharing the Word of God. God has given him a true passion and I am excited that he is able to use that gift. We still do not have all the pieces of our puzzle figured out, but if we did, then our lives would be over.
Thank you to all those who have loved, supported, prayed and encouraged us along this journey. We greatly appreciate and love each and everyone of you.

I look forward to putting this puzzle called.....The Grella's Journey together along with Nathan, Blake and Mckenna through the years. I love doing life with them!