An exciting night for my friends Blair and Tracy!

Our good friends, Blair and Tracy Carlstrom, have been searching desperately for a house. Right now they are renting an old farm house in Niles and Tracy spent the entire school year running 5 kids to 3 different schools, twice a day, which made her life crazy. (The kids go to Edwardsburg schools because in Michigan you can go to any school you want as long as you drive them there). Also, this old farm house is terrible to heat, so winter was very stressful for them. They have been looking and looking and looking for a house in the Edwardsburg school district that they could buy instead of rent, but haven't had any luck so far.

Trent's been helping them look for houses and property (he's good at that stuff and he likes hanging out with them), so we met them at an auction last night at a cute house sitting on 4 acres of woods on a small lake/wetlands. They started the auction and it was really nerve racking. Blair was in the lead, and in the final moments it became a bidding war between him and another guy. You could tell the other guy was really wanting this house and he wanted to keep bidding, but he just stopped. We didn't know what exactly what was happening, and then the auctioneers said it was sold - Blair and Tracy's got it!! We were so excited for them and they were just in shock. They got it for a great price, under what they were willing to go to. I tried to get Blair to do that happy dance, but he wouldn't indulge me.

So that part is cool, but here's the really cool part . . . Tracy talked to the guy that was bidding against them and found out that he goes to GCC. Somehow Tracy had talked to his wife at school and the wife knew that they were in desperate need of a house, so at the last minute, they guy backed off and let them have it! Isn't that so cool?! I pray that God will totally bless that man for putting people first instead of money (he was buying the house as a business transaction to sell and make money on). Tracy and Blair have been through an extremely difficult year and I am so happy that things are looking up for them!!

We went to Lunker's and celebrated with a nice dinner and finished off with candy bar cake to celebrate. I'm so happy for them and so grateful that God let them have that house. It is going to be a great place for their kids to run and play and Tracy can have her life back now and not be stuck running around in the van for 4 hours a day. Yeah God - thank you for taking care of my friends - they totally deserve it!!