gratitude

Ever since Australia became an option, even before it was a sure thing, I started to stress out about my apartment. Breaking my lease early, paying fees to turn off the phone/internet, and worse, selling or getting rid of all my furniture and house stuff! Gah! Greeks don't buy used items; they throw them away. (Lots of my friends have scored awesome things out of dumpsters...if you can get past the whole dumpster thing.) Sometimes you can sell stuff to expats, if your departure happens to correspond with another's arrival.

So I began to pray for someone to be able to move into my house and buy all my furniture. A long shot, so I started to mentally prepare myself for the chore of packing up, itemizing, pricing, selling, and vacating my beloved apartment. I knew there was one couple possibly coming with another organization in January, but that wasn't for sure, and that still left two months' rent to pay to hold the place for them. They never responded to an email. But I kept praying for that solution, maybe as the easy way out or the least-stress option - which seemed like an ok thing to hope for!

The day I got back from Australia a couple weeks ago, I heard that a couple that has been thinking of coming to work with Nea Zoi for awhile was in fact coming, in January. I thought I'd write to them and just see if they were interested. I knew they loved my neighborhood when they were here last year and would obviously need a place to live.

What has ensued has been exactly what I prayed for - in fact, even better than what I prayed for. The couple is now coming in November - the month after I leave. They are going to buy all my furniture (!) - so I just need to pack up the stuff I'm taking with me and leave. My landlord was not only fine with them moving in, but told me not to pay October rent (I paid first and last month's rent when I moved in) and she is giving me my deposit back. I had thought that I'd have to work this out with the couple coming, but it's all completely arranged - better than I even dreamed it could turn out!!!!

I keep saying WOW!! I can't believe it has worked out this way, EXACTLY as I hoped and prayed. Further confirmation to me that it's time to move on, but also just a major blessing and stress reliever. I'm SO GRATEFUL to not have to deal with stressful logistics. (Instead I can focus on the psychological stress of a second cross-continental move in two years, ha.) I'm just a bit blown away when I think about it. It really cuts down on the number of things I need to do before I leave, and allows me to spend that time with friends and enjoying my last weeks here.

Wow. :)