thankful challenges

Matt has a theory: Every year at Thanksgiving, our thankful hearts get challenged. And I think he is right. It's just uncanny, but we seem to always run into "thankful challenges" right around this time of year.

My first three consecutive Thanksgivings here we were without power on Thanksgiving Day. I mean, really, what are the chances? Definitely a "thankful challenge".

So this year, what are our challenges? Well, for starters, the dryer is broken. Again. Laundry is mounting up and the dryer fix-it man has been "on his way" for two days. I'm hoping he shows up tomorrow :)

Challenge #2? Our landlord is selling our apartment. In a country where I understood all the laws and rules and regulations regarding rental contracts, it would be slightly unnerving. Here, it's definitely disconcerting. We have a contract on this apartment signed through July 1, 2010. But we're wondering how our current rental contract gets worked into the buy/sell contract that our landlord is writing with the new buyer.

For the past week our landlord has been showing our apartment to prospective buyers. A few days ago I asked her to please give me ten minutes notice before she showed up with someone. Tonight the phone rang during dinner. When she arrived she told us she had a buyer. We communicated once again our concern that our rental contract would be honored by the new owner. Please pray.

In the interest of maintaining my thankful heart, I'm going to stop listing challenges! My sweet Lydia is sitting on the couch listening for "the bear upstairs" and exclaiming with glee when she hears him .... a topic for another post. But I will say this: I'm grateful that the bear upstairs is not a thankful challenge!