University HS or Santa Monica HS (aka SAMOhi): Which high school was Erin going to attend? We had one week to decide.All summer we had been trying to decide which high school Erin should attend. After visiting several schools, we hoped to get Erin into SAMOhi. The problem is that we were not residents of Santa Monica. All summer we looked for houses in Santa Monica. We were soon discouraged because most houses we liked were too expensive for us. Fortunately, Henry's aunt generously offered the use of her home address in Santa Monica so that we can declare that we were Santa Monica residents and enroll Erin into Samohi.
At first, we were relieved that Erin could get into SAMOhi, but we began to feel uncomfortable with the idea of lying. Since Henry's accident, we have been so grateful to God for his second chance in life. After sharing our dilemna with our church homegroup and asking them to pray for us for guidance and God's will, our good friends, Jimmy and Janne, bravely called us one night to tell us that the Holy Spirit was prompting them to tell us "not to lie" and to do the right thing. This was the confirmation we had felt all along. Therefore, we submitted to God's will for us to live in integrity and told Erin that we are are not going to lie to get into SAMOhi and that she should go to University HS. Our prayer was very specific: "God, if you want Erin to go to SAMOhi, please provide a house for us that was in a good location that we could afford. If not, we will be happy and content for Erin to go to University HS."
Immediately after our prayer time that Sunday night, Henry suddenly felt compelled to go online again and check one last time for any new listings. Henry found a house, under an estate sale, which had only been on the market for 2 days! It was in a great neighborhood and the price was right! Excitedly, we call my uncle and real estate agent, Robert Lin, to make an appointment to see the house right away. He called the selling agent on Monday morning; we saw the house on Tuesdays; we made an offer on Wednesday; the seller made a counter-offer on Thursday; on Friday, they accepted the counter-offer; and by Monday the house was in escrow. Later, we found out that there were 4 offers on the house, and 2 were at asking-price or higher. Thanks be to God, the seller accepted our offer over the others' higher bids.
The night we received news that we were new homeowners, we gave thanks to God and read the following scripture: "I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you." 1 Chronicles 29:17.Be careful what you pray for, because God can sometimes answer right away. We are just so amazed how God provided the right place for us, at the right time and at the right price. Only when we fully submitted to Him and stepped out in faith did He bless us and give us the desire of our heart.
We hope to build and finish our simple 2-story house by March 2011.
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