We normally put our prayer requests in our newsletters or on facebook, but today, we are asking for prayer here on the blog for a difficult situation we are in with our house. We love our house, feel completely at home in it, and have been greatly blessed by it during our almost three and a half years of living in it. We have a wonderful landlady who wants us to stay in the house for all of our time in Costa Rica as much as we do.
But,
... new neighbors moved in while we were in the States for the winter, and it's made our living situation difficult, for a variety of reasons, but, mainly, because they smoke... a lot. The houses here are very close together and everyone always has their windows open to get some relief from the tropical heat. We've gotten used to hearing every thing going on in our neighbor's houses -- their movies, music, conversations, burps (not kidding). We've also become used to smelling everything coming from our neighbor's house -- delicious tico cuisine, their baby's dirty diaper (again, not kidding), their trash, etc.
While the close proximity took awhile to get used to, we really have gotten to be ok with it... until now. The cigarette smoke coming from our new neighbor's house aggravates our allergies and asthma and permeates our whole house unless we close all the windows and deal with the heat. Even then, some still gets in our home because we have a couple of windows that only have screens (no glass). We have our Bible Center classes, church meetings, and ladies' Bible studies all on our front porch, where is no way to escape from the smoke.
We've talked to our neighbors and they have tried to smoke in their yard less, but even when they are in their house, it fills our house, too. We are praying for a solution. Please join us in praying? We feel like this is the house God has given us to carry out our ministry. It is within easy walking distance to the center of town, so it is easy for people to walk here (which is important since very few people from our church have cars). This house has a huge front porch which is perfect for our ministry events, and it also has a small extra space that we have made into an office for Dan. We searched, prayed for, and waited for a house for over a year, and then God provided this one when it seemed impossible. The house was never even officially up for rent, but the landlady called us and offered it to us for the price we could pay (which was significantly less than she could rent it for). It seems unlikely (but obviously possible with God) that we could find a house that suits our family's and ministry's needs as well as this one does.
So, we're asking for prayer for a solution to the problem we are facing. We're asking that we could stay in this house, but without smelling cigarette smoke every day. And, if God has in His plans for us to move, we'll be praying for a house that is just as perfect for us and our ministry as this one. Thank you, friends!
