In my last post, Part One, I shared that Blaise and I have taken our house off the market and have decided to rent it out instead. This was definitely NOT our first choice, but we are confident that this is good.
So let me back up a pinch and explain the process.
Before we ever left Uganda last year, we had several conversations with the seasoned missionaries with whom we will work about what to do with our house (as well as about a million other things that both excited and terrified us). While no one told us what to do–obviously, that’s really up to us and how we feel God leading us–they did give us the same suggestion repeatedly: hang onto the house.
After we committed to go to Uganda/South Sudan, we kicked around the idea of renting the house out, but in the end we really felt like we just couldn’t do it. We definitely felt God leading us to simplify our lives, pay off student loan debt, and be unattached and ready to move the second we are fully funded; however, we just really felt like for simplicity’s sake, selling the house made more sense.
Here’s why renting is definitely the more complicated option:
-We still have a mortgage for which we are responsible whether we live in the house or live in East Africa…the mortgage company doesn’t care. We were really terrified at the thought of having renters fall through (aka move out in the middle of night), leaving us with a financial burden that we couldn’t bear on our missionary salary.
-Leasing a house requires a contract and therefore a potential legal nightmare. What if the renters don’t pay rent and we have to evict them? What if they refuse to leave? What if we had to take people to court? And the “what ifs” kept rolling in.
-There’s a wee bit of a logistical problem…we’ll be thousands of miles away and can’t just pop in when there’s a maintenance need!
-Renters don’t always respect the property…as in, sometimes they DESTROY it! We have heard horror stories of renters and the damages they have caused to rental properties, and we simply couldn’t stomach the thought of our darling house being torn up by disrespectful people. Sounds cold, but it’s the truth.
-The NUMBER ONE reason…we couldn’t imagine having to continue dealing with the house while other people were living in it–our house! We knew that while we were still in the States, we would be responsible for making repairs, and we simply couldn’t handle the thought of someone else living here while we still owned it. It was still our home.
So, with the short list above, we wimped out and decided to just go with the cut-and-dry option of signing on the line and selling it…and never having to step foot inside it again while others lived here.
Then our hearts changed, but it was surprising and kind of sudden.
You see, while our house was on the market, we had to completely prepare ourselves to let it go permanently. Selling has a certain finality to it, and so as we showed the house and as we heard about seriously interested buyers, we had to really spend time in prayer for the strength to let it go. And we were completely prepared to do just that. During the months that we had the house on the market, we prayed for people to come along who would be blessed by living here. We also imagined our stuff completely gone and another family calling this home. As we went through that emotional/mental journey, we slowly began to see this house–though one we still loved–as one that wouldn’t be ours anymore.
We let go.