Mi Casa Es Su Casa

Before moving into our house (more on that later), we spent 6 months living in the basement of the Yinglings' house.  I feel like calling it a blessing would be an understatement.  God has specifically used the Yinglings to help us and bless our lives from the time we moved to Arkansas.  You see, JD works in the department at Harding and he is a sponsor for the club we were in.  Because we moved to Searcy without jobs, I talked to my Kinesiology professors (including JD) at HU to see if they knew of any jobs in the area.  I mostly heard no's, which is understandable since it was October at the time.  However, JD said he had some projects he wanted to get done with the Bison Stampede 5k and organizational stuff that would be about 10 hours per week of work and if I wanted to help, I could.  I quickly accepted.  We were in no position to turn away work - plus I kind of like organizing things.  After a few weeks, I started subbing in local schools and Devin found a job, but I was still able to work on projects for JD.  

Spending a few months in Searcy, we realized that we needed to save money somehow.  We figured the easiest way was to suck it up and find a cheaper place to live.  Most of the apartments we looked at that were cheaper than where we were weren't good neighborhoods (that's a lot of were's - did I do that right?).  We decided to reach out to people we knew.  Since it's a college town, a lot of people have guest houses or above garage apartments to rent to students.  Devin emailed quite a few people, asking if anyone had availability or knew someone who did.  We didn't have any luck - until JD replied.  He said their basement has a few empty rooms that they've rented out before. He and his wife, Kim, talked it over and decided we could stay there for basically a penny.  We couldn't pass it up!  There was no doubt it was a God thing that they were in the email list Dev sent out.  When we asked why they were willing to be so kind and hospitable, JD said that it's so one day we can pass on that kindness and hospitality to someone else.

Now it's October, and I realize that even after that statement, we were not prepared for the ways that we could grow and be blessed.  I've never experienced such selflessness and generosity from someone other than my family.  Not only did we live in their basement, but they shared their washer/dryer and pretty much all of the living space downstairs.  We had our own refrigerator and microwave downstairs.  We were always welcome to use their kitchen and anything in it.  They even let us use their DVR!  Totally missing that right about now, btw.  They cared about what was going on in our lives - celebrated when Devin got his admissions job, encouraged me through grad school and job interviews, and celebrated my teaching job in Cabot.  They don't know it, but we kind of think of them as our Searcy parents.  

Devin and I have been so humbled and blessed by our time there.  We will always cherish that family and our time there.  Their desire to serve God is visibly seen and we are thankful for their example.  Now that we have our own home, I'm excited to pass it on.

"You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and 

not by faith alone."  James 2:24