House Update

So, we put our house on the market in late February, and we went under contract on April 1st with an original closing date of May 31st.  Although we were cautiously optimistic, the May 31st closing seemed like a faraway event that may or may not actually happen. 

As soon as we went under contract, we began looking at houses with our realtor.  If you've read my previous posts, you know my husband was up on the market and all potential housing options!  So, we were ready; we knew exactly which houses we wanted to see.  Tuesday of that week (the day after we went under contract) we saw two houses.  Then the next day my husband saw a new listing that had just come on the market on one of our favorite streets.  We went and saw it during lunch on Thursday, and it seemed promising so we decided to go see it again the next day.  Then that night, another one came on the market on that same street.  Friday we went to see both houses on that street, and we ended up liking the newer one (I mean newer on the market, not newer in age) better.  We also tried to see another one on a different street, but it ended up not being ready to show.  So, we tried to see 5 houses, but we only went in 4 of them. 

The next day (Saturday morning) we met our realtor at our new favorite house and decided to make an offer!  We negotiated back and forth over the phone that day and soon went under contract.  We matched the due diligence and closing dates up so that we could back out of our new house if anything went wrong with the sale of our current house. 

Then came the hard part.  The bank's appraisal on our current house came in lower than the purchase price that we and the buyers had agreed to, which meant we had to lower our price in order for the deal to go through.  It was a hard few days, as we thought about our options and what we should do.  We ended up deciding to go through with it because selling at the lower price still accomplished our original goals of downsizing to a more reasonably sized and priced house and got us closer to the point where we could live mortgage-free, even if our feelings (i.e. egos) were hurt. 

We moved the closing date on our current house up to May 17th, and we hope to do the same with our new house if the bank can get everything prepared in time.  We are now past the due diligence dates on both houses, so it is almost for sure that this move is actually going to happen!  Which is good, because we started packing today!!  Since we close on May 17th (a Friday), we are moving the previous weekend, so we only have two weeks left.  How in the world that happened, I do not know!

My ever-frugal husband procured free moving boxes on Craigslist, so we taped them back together today and packed a grand total of 3 boxes!  We also made lists and planned and I went through my bathroom cabinet, so we did a little more than it sounds like.  Oh, and before we could do that, we decided to clean the house so we could take pictures of the rooms in all their glory.  When we started packing the second box, it became more real to me.  These are some of the thoughts that went through my head. 

We are actually moving.  I am not going to live here anymore.  Why is my dining room table shoved up against the wall?  Because my dining room is now full of empty boxes that will soon be full of our stuff.  Lastly, but perhaps most frantically, how are we going to pack all this stuff?!

As I'm writing this post, this came to mind as well...

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

-Matthew 6:19-21

In closing, I want to leave you with a few of the shots we took today.  These are the views I will miss the most.  

 

 

 

Although I'm feeling a little sentimental tonight, I know this place is not my home.  The funny thing is, the new one isn't really my home either. 

But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.

-Philippians 3:20-21

Jesus, I can hardly wait...







Praise

In Luke Chapter 19, Jesus says that if we don't praise Him, even the rocks will cry out in praise to Him.  This is my joyful praise to Him for His creation and for His never-ceasing, ever-pursuing love for us.

Freesia!
 

  

Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them";

and it was so.

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind;

and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:11-12

 

Do not call to mind former things,

or ponder things of the past.

Behold, I will do something new,

now it will spring forth;

will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19

He brought me forth also into a broad place;

He rescued me because He delighted in me.

Psalm 18:19

 

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Psalm 19:1

 

I will sing to the LORD,

because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:6

O God, You have taught me from my youth,

and I still declare Your wondrous deeds.

And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,

until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your power to all who are to come.

For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens,

You who have done great things;

O God, who is like You?

Psalm 71: 17-19

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

the LORD gives grace and glory;

no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Psalm 84:11

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

Serve the LORD with gladness;

come before Him with joyful singing.

Know that the LORD Himself is God;

it is He who made us, and not we ourselves;

we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the LORD is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100

  

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7

 

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
and I will wait on Your name, for it is good...
Psalm 52:8-9
 

How can I repay the LORD

for all the good He has done for me?

I will take the cup of salvation

and call on the name of Yahweh.

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all His people.

Psalm 116:12-14

 

 

Photos taken by my iPhone while walking in Ardmore and Scripture taken from various versions of the Bible (italics added).

7

In my last post, I mentioned that the next two books I read were even better, but I only got around to writing about One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  My most favorite new book is called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. 

Image courtesy of jenhatmaker.com/books



 

This book gave voice to so many feelings that I've had for so long.  I'm not even sure when they started- perhaps as early as junior high when I started noticing that things weren't fair and that I had more than others around me. 

 

I found this book when perusing a catalog I got in the mail.  You could say that the subtitle, An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, had me at hello.  I bought it in January and have since read it through twice, once by myself and once with a small group of friends, because it just will not let me go. 

 

Let me give you a little background on Jen first.  She is married to a preacher and she has written numerous other books.  What makes her different is this, which is taken from the introduction of 7.

My husband, Brandon, and I have undergone profound transformation in the last three years.  Let me sum it up: God really messed us up.  We were happy-go-lucky; Brandon was a pastor at a big ol' church making excellent scratch, and we spent our money however we wanted (on ourselves).  We were climbing the ladder, baby.  Fortunately, we didn't have to worry with the poor because we were paid pros serving the saved.  We spent so much time blessing blessed people, there was nothing left over.  Besides, that wasn't really "our thing."

Jen then goes on to describe how her family left that lifestyle in order to start a new church centered around justice.  

Our mantra is "Love your neighbor, serve your city."  Taking a cue from Francis Chan, we take the Scripture "love your neighbor as yourself" seriously, and we give away half of all we receive.  We won't spend more on ourselves than our poor neighbor.

How, you might ask, can their church give away half of all they receive?

A poor church plant operating on half its intake means we rent a worship space with dancing frogs painted on the back wall and carpet that saw the Nixon administration...Our parking lot looks like it was hit by an earthquake- and then patched up by drunken monkeys.  We have no support staff, no secretaries, no copy machine...These are deficiencies most pastors would never stand for (or most churchgoers), but we won't buy carpet at the expense of orphans.  $10,000 for a new parking lot could fund a hundred thousand tree seedlings to reforest Africa's decimated land and stimulate their local economy.  It's kind of a no-brainer. 

So they had their little church that focused on justice and loving the least of these, but then...

...a new tension began lurking.  The catalyst was the week we housed twelve evacuees from Hurricane Ike...As carloads arrived and we welcomed them in, one ten-year-old boy walked into our home, looked around with huge eyes, and hollered:

"Dad! This white dude is RICH!"

We are.

For years I didn't realize this because so many others had more.  We were surrounded by extreme affluence, which tricks you into thinking you're in the middle of the pack...

But it gets fuzzy once you spend time with people below your rung.  I started seeing my stuff with fresh eyes, realizing we had everything.  I mean everything.  We've never missed a meal or even skimped on one.  We have a beautiful home in a great neighborhood.  Our kids are in a Texas exemplary school.  We drive two cars under warranty.  We've never gone a day without health insurance.  Our closets are overflowing.  We throw away food we didn't eat, clothes we barely wore, trash that will never disintegrate, stuff that fell out of fashion.

And I was so blinded I didn't even know we were rich.

How can I be socially responsible if unaware that I reside in the top percentage of wealth in the world?  (You probably do too:  Make $35,000 a year?  Top 4 percent.  $50,000?  Top 1 percent.)  Excess has impaired perspective in America; we are the richest people on earth, praying to get richer.  We're tangled in unmanageable debt while feeding the machine, because we feel entitled to more.  What does it communicate when half the global population lives on less than $2 a day, and we can't manage a fulfilling life on twenty-five thousand times that amount?  Fifty thousand times that amount?

It says we have too much, and it is ruining us.

If this doesn't make you want to read this book, then nothing else I can say will.  (Also, I'm pretty sure I've just infringed on some major copyright law, so I think I better stop here!)

In order to tackle all of this, Jen focuses on seven different areas of excess in her life, going through them one month at a time, in the spirit of a fast.  For example, Month 1 is about food, and she eats the same 7 foods for the entire month.  She also learns a lot about eating whole foods that are organically and/or locally grown in the process.  Month 2 is about clothes, and Jen decides to wear the same 7 pieces of clothing all month.  Month 3 focuses on possessions, and she vows to give away 7 things each day that month.  Month 4 is on Media, and Jen shuts down 7 forms of media, one of which happens to be TV.  Month 5 is on Waste, and she intentionally and thoroughly practices 7 green habits to reduce her family's waste.  Month 6 focuses on Spending, and she limits her spending to 7 places for the month.  Month 7 is on Stress, and she uses Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr to learn how to pause and pray seven times a day.  She also observes the Sabbath during this month. 

While some of these limitations may sound ridiculous, she does all of this fasting to intentionally break away from our excessive, consumer-driven culture in order to repent of her greed and prepare herself for something more.  The dedication of her book reads:

For Jesus, who lived so lightly on this earth, He didn't even have a place to lay His head.  I want so deeply to be like You. 

Throughout each chapter Jen includes relevant research and statistics about her focus during that particular month.  She often reminds her readers that she is not perfect, that she is right in the middle of all of this as she writes about it.  She is honest and upfront about her struggles, and she infuses humor all throughout her writing.  She writes about each month as she goes through it, and it's kind of like reading a journal or listening to a close friend talk about both the highs and lows of their day.

I loved so many things about this book.  But some of the major takeaways are:

1) I am not the only one who has these feelings.  There are other like-minded people who feel that we, as Americans, have too much and that we are not living the way we were intended to live.  A lifestyle that seems reasonable and normal to us may not really be either of those things.  And just maybe the American dream is not consistent with the Word of God.

2) Buying whole, organic, local food is good, but it is also sometimes expensive.  Spending less money sounds good, but then that often means you are buying foods that are less than healthy or that were shipped all across the world, which is also not ideal.  Jen shares her inner struggles over who should win- her "organic" personality, her "local" personality, or the personality who "is trying to unhook from the consumer machine" and wants to buy the cheapest thing possible.  I have had similar struggles.  And let's just say I'm pretty sure my husband does not want me to give in to my "organic" or "local" personality unless they also coincide with my "frugal" personality, which pretty much only happens at the farmer's market.  Thank goodness the one at Old Salem is coming soon!!

3) In her Spending chapter, Jen says there are 3 things we can do differently in regard to our spending.  The first is nonconsumption, whereby we stop buying things we don't need.  And really, what more do we need, except food?  The second is redirecting our money to a worthy cause, such as global microlending or a million other good things.  The third is become wiser consumers who care more about the people who make our goods and the way they were made than the price we pay for them.

4) Our church has pushed stewardship several times in the 6.5 years we've been going there in order to pay off the addition and new sanctuary they completed before we arrived.  While I was not there when the addition was planned and executed, I know they had their reasons for expanding.  During one of the stewardship campaigns, they asked us to ponder, "What could we be giving to if we didn't have this debt?"  Sometimes I have wondered that, too.

5) A lot of people these days don't go to church, and that makes me sad.  Why?  Because the church is where I found the unconditional love and acceptance and forgiveness of Jesus, and I want others to find that, too.  God has changed and continues to change my life, and always, only, for my good.  OK, back to my original point.  I think the main reason people don't go to church is that we, as Christians, are not much different than anybody else in the world.  Jen Hatmaker included the following quote from Ghandi that has stuck with me. 

I like your Christ.  I do not like your Christians.  They are so unlike your Christ.

Ahhh!  This breaks my heart.  Jesus said that people would know us by our love, but I don't think we're doing a very good job of loving.  I wonder if more people would be drawn to us if we were truly sacrificing and working for people in need.  What if we were known for drilling wells in Bihar, India or funding microloans in Pakistan or feeding children at Ashley Elementary?  How would that change people's views of the church?  What if "loving your neighbor as yourself" really does mean spending as much money on our neighbors as ourselves?  Or the even harder part for me- What if we really started treating people (and by people, I mean our spouses, children, extended family members, coworkers, neighbors, people we encounter everyday) with love and respect even when they are being less than perfect?  Because face it, some people are just never going to be perfect :) 

Side note: Sometimes I think I need to erase everything I think I know about being a Christ-follower and start from scratch, reading the Bible from cover to cover.  How much of what I think it means to be a Christ-follower has been influenced by our self-indulgent, me-first American culture?  How does being a Christ-follower in a third-world country look different from being one in America?  Should it look different?  I don't know; this is too much for my brain to process right now. 

6) On a lighter note, after reading Jen's book, I started wearing some of my older clothes that I thought were way too out of style to ever grace this body again.  And guess what?  Nobody cared!  Nobody stared at me or made me feel uncomfortable.  It was kind of awesome.  Also, I used to really want to buy a new shower curtain, but I just couldn't justify it because I had a perfectly good one at home even though I wasn't crazy about the way it looked.  I also wished I could get cute new kitchen towels from Target every time I was there, but again, I had plenty and could not fit any more in my kitchen towel drawer.  But now, I'm starting to look at those same linens in a different way.  Instead of wishing they would fall apart in the dryer or become threadbare in order to justify a new purchase, I am grateful for their longevity.  Maybe using something for a long time, even if it's not the most hip, in style thing is good.  Maybe that's the way it was meant to be. 

It has been liberating to not feel like I need to check Tuesday Morning for a good deal every time I pass by it.  It has also been liberating to not feel the need to go to Target or Bed, Bath, and Beyond every week.  When I did go to Target recently, it was like, "Hey you!  Just realized I haven't seen you in awhile, but I've been doing fine without you!"  I really thought I would miss it, but I have found it quite nice to not feel the stress or pressure to buy (admittedly cute) things that I just don't need.

7) And to answer another question: Yes, this book did help me decide to sell our house.  It did not birth the idea in me, but it helped to confirm it. 

And yes, I'm stopping right here, right now, because I just gave you 7 of my best takeaways from the book 7, and now it's time for you to find yours.

OK, one last thing, Jen Hatmaker is going to be speaking in Raleigh on May 3rd and 4th, and I, along with my husband, will be there!  If you are interested, here's the link. http://apostles-raleigh.org/events/