The Housing Crisis and Answered Prayers

Summer had come to an end and it was finally time for Bailee to re-join us in this great state of Utah.
Before the summer began she made arrangements to live with a friend from High School.
They looked around Ogden and Weber State and chose a great apartment.
But, a few weeks before Bailee was to return to live in Ogden the previously arranged place fell through.
The girls she was going to live with looked around and found another place for them all to live.
I went and looked at the outside of it, as Bailee was in Montana and couldn't look for herself.  It was not optimum.  It was farther away from campus than she usually lives and in a very wooded area.  After a lot of discussion, Bailee decided she would live there anyway to avoid having to live with strangers.  She really felt living with some girls she knew would outweigh the location.

The plan was for the dad and I to move her belongings in and buy her some groceries on the Friday before school started.  That Sunday she would drive down from Montana attend three days of school, sign her housing contract then Thursday return to Montana to finish out her contract.  Sunday she would move back to Ogden for the school year.  So Linc and I loaded up our two vehicles with all of Bailee's hud and drove to Ogden to meet her roommates and move her in.

The first major warning that our Bailee should not live here were the woods surrounding the apartment complex and parking area.  Bailee often travels to and from her house very late at night.  Due to her major and Folk Dance she is involved in a lot of late night rehearsals and shows.  Her dad felt very concerned about her walking through this very wooded area to get from her car to her apartment.
The second warning, the elevator was broken.  The apartment was on the third floor. Not good at all when you have to move in a butt load of furniture.  The third warning signal, the air conditioning was not working.  Really!!  They are moving in and something is already broken.  The stairways were very dark. The final straw for the dad had to be the type of housing it was.  It really wasn't college housing.  It was apartments that were occupied by a variety of people.  Some a little sketchy.  But, to avoid a scene we moved her in and felt wrong about it the whole time.  It just didn't seem like the place for her.  As we drove home the feeling just got stronger and stronger.  We just felt like she needed time to make a choice that was right for her.

I called and cried and begged to my sister who lives not far from Weber State Campus to allow Bailee to live with her temporarily while she finds another place to live.  Of course they were happy to have her.  So I broke the news to Bailee.  Daddy and I just don't feel like this apartment is the right place for you.  She had also been feeling very uneasy about the decision to live there.  Thank goodness she had not signed a contract.  So Sunday back up to Ogden our family drove and packed up Bailee's belongings and moved them into the garage of my sister.  Bailee arrived in Ogden feeling homeless.  All of her stuff was boxed and stacked and school was starting the next day.

For the next three days I drove to Ogden every day and we looked and looked at apartments and houses.  Nothing was working out.  We all just prayed that she would find a place to live that was safe close to campus and with sweet girls for room mates. A place available soon.  She really wanted to settle in somewhere with her stuff.  She went to classes and I scoured the Internet.  No luck.  So she hopped in her car and headed back to Montana thinking she might be living with my sister for the semester.

Then a folk dance friend told her about a house with a space available.  She gave Linc and I instructions to go look at it as soon as possible and if it looked good, sign the contract.  It was perfect.  A cute house about 2 miles from campus with three great girls living there.  We signed the contract and moved her in.  Sunday she came home to a new house and all her belongings there and ready.  It has been the perfect place for her. She loves it and her dad can rest easy at night knowing she is safe.  It really was an answer to her prayers having the other housing fall through and finding this house.  It's where she is meant to be.