Our Strong Tower: May 2012

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Forms from the USDA

John and I came home from our vacation yesterday to find out the USDA has started to send out eligibility paperwork to the families. (This is not an approval, just stating that we are eligible and requires our signature.) Deena has gotten her, but Debbie and John and I have not received our paperwork (we are the only two families that have not received our paperwork). I called the USDA this morning to find out when a check we wrote back in February will be cashed. She told me that they were just starting to process the paperwork on the last two families. Our check will a be sent to out today. So, I am not sure when we will get our paperwork.

Other news:

The Dept. of Real Estate said it will not approve our HOA until mid June. This push back our start date to late June.

We have our next meeting scheduled approx. June 7th.

Prayer Requests:

The Dept. of Real Estate will approve our HOA soon.
Debbie and John and I would receive our eligibility paperwork will arrive soon.
Peace and contentment while we wait for the start date.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Escrow and Insurance Meeting

Well, tonight we had our escrow and insurance meeting. It was fun, because we got to ride together. We had many laughs before, during, and after. We had to introduce ourselves again. So now Debbie and Deena have a better idea of who their neighbors are going to be. John and I met our neighbor at the first meeting. We signed and filled out some escrow paperwork. We went over our CC&R's for the HOA. We went over the title options. We did not get to the insurance yet. We are still looking at mid June for the start. Our loans have not yet been approved, because our HOA has to be approved by some government official and we can not progress until our loans are approved. Please pray that we will get our loans approved soon.

Home Ownership Program

We are doing a program through a organization that has been building homes in our area for 40 years. The program is designed to help lower income families buy homes. There will be a total of 24 homes built. The homes are divided into two groups. We are in the first group of twelve families. We work together to build all twelve families' homes. By the end of the process we will know our new neighbors very well. We are required to work 40 hours a week, split between two people. We do most of our work on the weekends. There is a contractor working with us to teach us how to build a home. We can not move in until all twelve homes are complete. It usually take one year to build twelve homes. We don't do plumbing, electrical, drywall, or stucco. We are the labor. The labor is our down payment down, sweat equity.

Deena and the Boys

Hi, I am Deena. I have four awesome young men (21, 19, 17, and 12). We have always wanted a home of our own. The place we are in was supposed to be temporary housing sixteen years ago. Now God is giving us a new adventure. We are going to build our own home and eleven others with our new neighbors. And God blesses us with neighbors who we already know! Jacob is my co-builder and my two teenagers will be helping as much as they can. God is always providing
for me when I least expect it. He is so amazing.

Where did this journey start?

For me, Tricia, this journey began with me wanting to own a home and God using this desire to grow my faith and dependence on Him. I have been trying to buy a home for 6 years with my husband, John. We tried many times to buy a home, but God always said no. A year ago, we finally decided to stop our search and learn to be content where God has us. God had different plans for us. In August, we applied for a self-help housing project. In October, we were accepted. I then told our neighbor (for 7 years) and friend Debbie. She applied and was accepted. In January, I told Deena a friend from church. She applied and was accepted. These homes are such a blessing. We sit in awe of what God has given us. We are excited to get started on the homes. God is our strong tower. He will give us the strength to build these homes.