Yesterday we received some pretty shocking and disappointing news – the land that we have been waiting any day to purchase has fallen through. Over the past two weeks whenever we have checked we have heard that everything was going along smoothly, so it was quite a shock to find out otherwise. Eric called and talked to the owner directly, who implied that the other agricultural landowners of the surrounding area had gotten together and decided to hold out and sell all the land together to a developer in the next year or so… We don’t really know what the real issue is – if he was upset that the price was negotiated so much, if he feels obligation to his neighbors, if he thinks he can get a lot more by waiting? But whatever, it leaves us without land to build a home on! We just heard yesterday that the drawings were nearly complete in the U.S. They will have to be re-done for a different property that has a different shape.
We don’t have a back-up plan at this point. There is another plot of land that we need to consider, but it is long and narrow and could make building a challenge. Since we started our children at the Watanoha schools, we now need to make sure that whether we buy land or find a home that it is within that school district…
We do know that God wants us to pray more. Now that the three kids are starting up school, I really want to begin prayer walking the area. Just this week I have felt more excited about the particular area where God has been calling us. Would you pray with us?
We still need to be out of this home by the end of May – even if the building had gone through it would not have been ready in time for that. So we need a “next” place… and a long-term place.

Olivia started Japanese kindergarten yesterday – it is her third year, but since we are new to the school they wanted her to go through the opening ceremony. It was a strange feeling to be in the auditorium with bunches of little kids and their parents and grandparents and realize that every single face was new to us. All part of starting over. When the school principal gave a speech, she broke down crying in the middle of it as she talked about the great disaster of last year and how hard it has been for everyone there, but that together we will work hard to raise our children well. She said there are 25 families from the temporary shelters sending their children to this youchien…

Today Annie didn’t want to go to school. I know there will continue to be many ups and downs in the path ahead. Hoping that I can please God by living a life of faith and not worry.