Housing Hassles and Clear Answers

About a month ago, I decided to start looking for a new home to rent. (Since we aren't sure how long we will be here, we just aren't ready to buy.) This was surely, in part, due to nesting. (A term I have always hated because, let's face it, I'm not a bird. But here I was looking for a new home, literally nesting.)

We like the home that we currently live in, however, I was sure that we could find a place that would save us a significant amount of money. Our lease is up in May, so I became a little obsessed about finding a place before the baby comes. Anyhow, I found several options that would save us a few hundred dollars a month. One, though, seemed great. It was in the right area to keep Jackson at the same school, looked practically new inside and was even on the schools bus route! (No more drop offs and pick ups.) I kind of stalked this house. I could have contacted the realtor of that home directly, but I decided to do the right thing and contact our realtor first. After not hearing from him for a day or so, I prayed that we would get the house if it would be the right place for us. After the weekend, my realtor contacted me and said that he was out of town. I, stalking as usual, drove by the house and saw people inside. I knocked on the door and found out that the house was rented over the weekend. I figured that answer was a big NO.

Since then, a friend through church told me about another option in the same neighborhood that we live in now. It was a great option because it is on the side of the neighborhood where a lot of children live and it would save us, yet another, $150 a month. I looked at the house, the renters were very accommodating and told me to bring my husband back in a week and, if he approved, we could settle things.

Then, we had a day when lots of crazy things happened on the housing front. The day before I was to bring Jimmy to see the house I said another prayer that we would be able to tell if it was the right place while we looked at it the following day. A couple hours later, I was contacted by a family in our ward (church congregation)who heard that we were looking and needed someone to take over their lease for even $200 less than the option in our neighborhood. We told them that we were pretty sure about the neighborhood option but that we would give them a call if things didn't work out the next day. Soon after, we sent our landlords a letter telling them of the two housing options we had and asking if they would lower our rent. About two minutes after I sent that e-mail to our current landlords the woman from the neighborhood house called and said that they were so sorry but they suddenly decided not to rent the home. Ok, answer to house number two: NO.

Even though we hadn't seen the third house that the family from church were renting, I figured that that was where we would end up. It was a great house, similar in size to the one we live in now, that backed to a huge field and the town playground. I'd have to drive Jackson to school, but I could get over that. And, we would save a whooping $700/month. Unless our landlords could take that much off our rent (which we were pretty sure they couldn't), it looked like that would be the place.

The next day, our landlords e-mailed us and told us that within weeks they were putting our house up for sale! They said they would like for us to stay in the home while it is on the market and would match the $700 off per month that the other house was offering. This was exciting but there was still a decision to make since we could be asked to leave at any time and with only 30 days notice. (Not to mention having a new baby and dealing with showings and the possibility of loosing out on a the other house, an unheard of deal). After a week of going back and forth we decided to tell the family in our ward (who didn't want to move until July) that we were very interested and to please let us know when they were ready to make the move. We asked that they let us know before they looked for other people to take over the lease. This would give us a couple of months to sit tight and then we could decide.

Except that they told us that they had already found another family to rent the house! What? They contacted us! Needless to say, I was pretty infuriated. House number 3: NO!!!

It looks like the Lords' hand is in all of this and that He just wants us to stay put. I believe that He had to give crystal clear answers to me on this topic because I had been so stressed out about money (which was probably not something I really needed to worry about). Not only did He say no on three separate occasions but, in the process, made it possible for us to stay where we are at the lowest rent that I have found. It will be a bit of an inconvenience for us and not knowing how long we will be able to stay is a bit disconcerting. However, maybe God just knows better than I do. Who knows? The house might not sell and we could be here for years at the low rent. Or we might decide that it is time to move out of the area and we won't be stuck in a lease. We will just have to have faith and see. It is nice to be led and have such a clear and obvious answer...another reminder that we aren't alone in the day to day choices we make in life.