Doug and I were married in 1988 (yes we are coming up to 24 years of marriage) and since then have had a number of homes. Each with interesting stories and how they came about to be in our lives. We owned a house in Chilliwack in the mid 90’s and really enjoyed the house but no so much the half acre of yard maintenance. Due to some illnesses and stupid decisions, we sold the place at a loss and owe my parents far too much money. So let’s not dwell on the negative because I still can’t talk about all that yet… still sits heavy on my heart. Let’s start with when we moved to Surrey in 1997…
Our first place here was a basement suite. We went from a full house to ourselves, to living in a basement. The landlords where nice and it actually went pretty good for the most part… we had a nice pink spare bedroom which my poor nephew had to sleep in every so often. We parted from that place on bad terms with our landlords (no real idea why though) and moved to one of our most unique place as of yet. Here our landlord Dee was an older lady who had family that walked all over her. We lived in the bottom part of the duplex below her. We would have her over for dinner and get her to join us in a few family events. She was a very unique lady and we tried very hard to help her out whenever we could. She had no money to fix the place up, so we landed up doing a lot of stuff. We totally redid the bathroom when Doug fell through the outside wall (not completely through, but just about). We also had to redo a part of the floor because it turns out the wood had cat pee on it and the only way to get rid of the smell was pull the floor out. It was a weird lay out but turned out to be very useful when our ever so young cousin Naomi came to live with us. This was a start of a long and wonderful friendship with the Barg side of our family. We loved this place and if it wasn’t for one of Dee’s tenants coming to our door step drunk and threatening us, we would not have moved.
Our next place was with Andy… and this house had an amazing view of the fraser river and we could even see the fireworks in New West. We loved this place… great view, nice yard and nicely renovated inside. Andy was also the owner of a car lot at the time, and he got us our Tercel at cost. He knew our credit wasn’t that great (Doug had to go bankrupt due to illness) but still gave us a loan. He has since helped us get our next two cars since then… yup he is the reason we have the Mustang. We landed up moving because the downstairs people refused to stop smoking in the house and so we had to move because the smell would come through the vents. Our next place was short lived though as when we moved we were told the landlord wouldn’t sell and tear down the house… turns out he lied and 9 months later we were moving again. Oh the joy. Eventually we landed up moving to the Whalley area of Surrey. We loved being so close to the skytrain, but eventually we got tired of the crime and all the crap going on there and so we decided to move up in the world… we moved to WHITE ROCK/S. SURREY
So here begins our adventure in the beautiful oceanside town which we love so much. We landed up being in a few places while being here for the last 6 years due to landlords wanting to have their place back, paying too much in rent, ect. We love living here and love the environment. It is a much more layed back lifestyle than the main city of Surrey. Our last place was right on the beach… this was our dream life… a condo on the beach and a convertible Mustang… really what more does a person need? Then a bunch of this came crashing down early this year when Doug lost his good paying job, was unemployed for 2 months and now works part-time at minimum wage. It was time to move somewhere cheaper. We thought we would have to live in some basement suite back in the main city of Surrey… we were not looking forward to this, but God had other plans…
Ocean Park…what a cute little area in South Surrey (borders White Rock). I saw this ad in Craigslist for a top floor of a fourplex… it was in our price range, but they didn’t allow pets. I was told by a friend to ask anyway, so I emailed and said what a good cat Minnie was and if they would reconsider the pet policy. 
After meeting us, they reconsidered… how amazing is God right? We always have believed the right people will come into our lives without us having to force things. Our landlords really liked us and even reduced the rent if we were ok with the old carpeting. We were game and so on May 12, 2012 our new adventure began away from our beach hut in White Rock. It was really hard to leave the area (which is only 7 minutes away) but we knew we had to do this to get our finances in order again.
We are all moved in now… everything is where it is supposed to be and it actually feels like we have been here forever. It is so nice that God gives us peace even when the world feels like it is trying to push us under. I keep telling people this place is cozy (not in a small way), but in a warm blanket around a person way. Maybe it was all the prayers of our friends, or just that 
God has given us such peace about this decision, but it feels cozy… we love it here and we are still close to Crescent Beach (only a 15 min walk and 190 steps down). We still have our Mustang and we will be setting up the hot tub soon. Life can change in a moments notice and we learned many years ago (when Doug had his stroke) that never take it all for granted. Enjoy today and all the little things. We have loved every place we have lived in and have made it our own even if it was a dump. God expects us to take pride in the little things and the things we have… we have to take care of it and he will bless us with better. Even if it doesn’t seem better, he gives us peace to make us think it is better. We have been blessed with great landlords for a number of our places we have rented and that should never be taken for granted. Thanks goes out to all those landlords that treat their tenants with respect!
So here we are… starting our new adventure in Ocean Park… I am looking forward to seeing how this part of our life pans out. I still see ourselves in California someday, but who knows…we don’t know the future. God will take care of no matter where we are and right now I am so grateful that he is taking care of us in a cute little suburb called Ocean Park in Surrey. We are blessed and God is great!! By the way, we had our first gathering at our place yesterday (that didn’t involve any moving) with our bible study group. It felt to so good to be able to have people over and have such pride for our wonderful new home.
24 Years, Congratulations! Outstandng!!!!
Great blog. You will be in California one day I know it. Reading this, all I could think of was Psalm 107
Tehillim - Psalms - Chapter 107
1. Give thanks to the Lord because He is good, for His kindness is eternal.
2. Those redeemed by the Lord shall say it, those whom He redeemed from the hands of an oppressor.
3. And gathered them from lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the sea.
4. They strayed in the desert, on a road of desolation; they did not find an inhabited city.
5. Hungry as well as thirsty, their soul enwraps itself in them.
6. And they cried out to the Lord in their distress; from their straits He rescued them.
7. And He led them on a straight road, to go to an inhabited city.
8. They shall give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
9. For He sated a yearning soul, and a hungry soul He filled with goodness.
10. Those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners of affliction and iron.
11. For they rebelled against the words of God, and they scorned the counsel of the Most High.
12. And He humbled their heart with toil; they stumbled with no one to help them.
13. And they cried out to the Lord in their distress; from their straits He saved them.
14. He took them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and He broke open their bonds.
15. They shall give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
16. For He broke copper doors, and cut off iron bars.
17. Fools, because of the way of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18. Their soul despises all food, and they reach the portals of death.
19. And they cried out to the Lord in their distress; from their straits He saved them.
20. He sent His word and healed them, and extricated them from their pit.
21. They shall give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
22. And they shall slaughter sacrifices of thanksgiving, and they shall tell of His deeds with song.
23. Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do work in mighty waters.
24. They saw the deeds of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
25. He spoke, and He set up a tempest, and it raised its waves.
26. They went up to the heavens, they came down to the depths; their soul melted with trouble.
27. They were frightened and staggered like a drunkard, and all their wisdom was destroyed.
28. They cried out to the Lord from their distress, that He take them out of their straits.
29. The tempest He had set up [settled] into a calm, and their waves were stilled.
30. They rejoiced that they were stilled, and He led them to the region of their desire.
31. They shall thank the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
32. And they shall exalt Him in an assembly of people, and in a sitting of elders, praise Him.
33. He makes rivers into a desert, and springs of water into an arid place;
34. A fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35. He makes a desert into a pool of water, and a wasteland into springs of water.
36. And He settles the hungry there, and they establish an inhabited city.
37. And they sow fields and plant vineyards, which produce fruits and grain.
38. And He blessed them, and they multiplied exceedingly, and their animals did not decrease.
39. Whereas they were few and they sank down from dominion, trouble, and sorrow.
40. He pours contempt upon princes and leads them astray in a wasteland where there is no path.
41. And He strengthened the needy from poverty and made him families like flocks.
42. The upright see and rejoice, and all injustice shuts its mouth.
43. He who is wise will keep these in mind, and they will ponder the kind deeds of the Lord.