So here is our house. Months after we finished the interior and put it up on the market. Long after we were supposed to be gone. With no furniture in the house except camp chairs and cots for the kids (we kept our master bedroom furniture). Trying to be faithful to the Father every step of our journey.
Purging, packing, and planning --the theme of my life since September 2010, when I felt God prompting me to prepare for moving.
While I stayed in Indiana enjoying a respite, my DH stayed here trying to sell the house. We had plenty of lookers, but no buyers.
Then Bill flew out to Indiana around the middle of August and we took our time coming back to Colorado. I dreaded returning. After all my hard work and effort. All the hours poured into paring down our furniture, getting rid of everything except the bare necessities. It all seemed wasted.
We decided to list the house on the MLS using a flat-fee service, in which a Realtor posts our information for a flat fee. We could afford $400 out of pocket versus $5000. Through August, September, and now October, our house has been listed on the MLS. With only two phone calls. How depressing. There were times I wanted to throw in the towel. Just refill the house with furniture and stick it out. But every time I went back to God, he made it abundantly clear that Keenesburg wasn't in our future.
What to do? Well, since the real estate market is soft and the rental market is strong... we decided to become landlords and rent out the house. After much prayer and deliberation, I crafted an ad and posted it on craigslist. Within an hour, I had two phone calls and an email. Within four days, I had countless phone calls and emails.
Apparently, this was the right door. So currently, we are screening potential tenants. Is it nerve-wracking? Oh, yea. Am I sure I want to be a landlord? No. But do I feel this was the right decision? Absolutely.
What did I gain from the trip to Indiana and several "wasted" months of trying to sell the house?
My husband.
Being in Colorado by himself made him realize what was most important: his family. Within a couple weeks of our return, he assumed the finances and started paying the bills; for the first time in our 16 1/2 years of marriage. He scaled back his outside commitments, re focused his passion and energy toward our financial future and began including the family in all his hobbies.
As hard as it has been to wait on the Lord and wonder at what was happening, I look back over the summer and realize that God had a plan which didn't include selling the house. It was a means to his end. But he has opened the door for us to leave via turning the house into a rental.
Financially, this makes sense for our family. We don't lose the money and time we invested and learn a whole lot about being prudent. As nerve-wracking as looking for the right tenant is, I have absolute peace about God's plan for our future. No fear.
Next post: About our fun journey traveling from Indiana to Colorado!
No comments:
Post a Comment