~ Home Sweet Home ~

Shalom! As we are ending our 10th year in Jerusalem, we realized that we have never really shown you our home(s).  We say homes, because the apartment we are currently living in is our 4th since we arrived back in December 2010.  And we are happy to say it is also our favorite!  

Our first apartment was on the other side of town from where we live now.  It actually would be closer to our headquarters now that our offices are in the Central Bus Station.  But we only lived there for less than a year, then moved to the neighborhood where most of the other volunteer apartments are.  When we moved to our 2nd apartment we lived through a one month renovation/demolition, as some of you may remember.  We liked that apartment, but after being there for about 1 1/2 years, we moved to our 3rd apartment.  We lived in our 3rd apartment for the next 6 years.  We really liked it there a lot.  We lived on the 4th floor (top floor) and had an elevator.  We also had a large closed in balcony, 1 1/2 baths, and a really nice kitchen.  However, while we had great bus options, the building was on a 6 lane busy road and was very noisy.  We began to experience a few challenges there, and the owners were once again raising the rent, so the decision was made to release the apartment, and we then moved to our 4th and present apartment in May 2019.  The great thing is that this new apartment is actually cheaper than our last apartment!

Since our last move, our lives have become even more challenging and time consumed than we ever imagined - how can that even be possible?? But we're certain that God knew what was heading our way, and He provided this apartment as a peace haven for us to retreat to, for rest and restoration.  

We are now back on the same street as our 2nd apartment, but across the street.  We are on the 4th floor, just as our last apartment - but no elevator.  That's 6 flights of 11 steps each -- 66 steps of exercise each day. We are also quite close to the neighboring Arab village, which means we hear the muslim call to prayer (loudly) several times a day, including about 4am.  We only have one bathroom now, which we've had to adjust to, but it's bigger and we like it very much.  The kitchen also is not a separate room as we have been accustom, but it is also very nice, and we now love the open arrangement of the space.  Our landlord left much of the furniture, and the rest belongs to CFI, so we are truly blessed that we have not had to invest in too much of the furnishings.  Also, this is the first time since we've lived here that we've had air conditioning!  Yay! And the best part - we have a large open balcony full of roses and plants, with a table & chairs and a grill that was gifted to Jim for Father's Day/Birthday.  While we can't use the balcony so much during the cold & rainy months, it is truly our favorite space, especially on warm summer nights.  

Linda has joined a ladies group (called in short, "Rosebuds"), and they shared videos of their homes each week.  They're a bit detailed, but we thought it might be nice to share them with you.  We hope you enjoy these videos of our place of respite in Jerusalem, our ~ Home Sweet Home.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  We love you!!

Foyer / Entryway

Living Room

Kitchen #1

Kitchen #2

Dining Room - note the dove that flies to the window :)

Master Bedroom, Bathroom, 2nd Bedroom