UncategorizedWhy We Sold February 14, 2013Thanks so much for all of the sweet, kind words about yesterday’s post. It warms my heart to know that many of you can also relate to what we’re currently feeling. We closed on our house yesterday. I’m actually really excited about this new adventure. Sure, it was a bit hard when we turned out the lights last night and shut the door behind us (literally and figuratively). I realized last night that I’ve never really explained why we’re moving. I’ve mentioned it briefly, but since this is so huge for us, I really feel I should fully explain our motivations in this decision. In an e-mail yesterday, Jillian said, “Isn’t it amazing how tied we get to our houses?” And I thought, wow, she’s so right! I think everyone gets tied to their first home, but when I’m a design blogger and my husband and I together are somewhat of house flippers, the “home” takes on a whole new position in our lives and our family. And for the most part, I really love that and am so grateful for our shared interest. But it also can become an idol and a distraction. We went to a very expensive private university and both have quite a lot of debt from that. We really don’t believe that God wants us to be in debt. We spent the first year and a half of our marriage worried about debt and how it would get paid off. Many people think that we spent A LOT of money on this first house, but that isn’t the case. Did we spend some? Yes, but a small some. We furnished and decorated our house almost solely through gifts from others and thrift stores and I’m good with that. I hope those habits don’t change if our financial situation is one day different! But about a year ago, the weight of our debt was weighing very heavily on us. We were really bound to it and a “slave to the lender” as God calls us not to be. We knew something had to change, but didn’t know what. One day, Chris sat me down and said, “I think God wants us to sell the house.” Let me just say my reaction wasn’t good. When we bought our home, we planned to raise our future babies there. I spent that afternoon walking around the house picturing three little blond-headed children playing in every room. I cried and mourned the life I thought we were going to have there. But by later that night, I knew Chris was right. We had purchased this house as a foreclosure. We gutted and updated both bathrooms and painted and spruced up everything else. We knew it would appraise for more than we had purchased it for and we saw an opportunity. We began working fairly frantically to try to get the house for sale. Once we knew we were selling, we were ready to get moving. We listed it for sale on October 31st and had an offer by mid-January. It’s crazy how quickly God came through on selling the house once we took the leap of faith to trust Him and list it. Now onto the other part of this story…where we’re moving. Our new house (that I’ll finally be showing a picture of tomorrow!!), is in a transitional downtown area in Greenville. We love downtown and have really wanted to move closer to it for quite a while. Many of the expensive, fancier neighborhoods that surround downtown were out of our price range, but also not quite what we were looking for. Some friends introduced us to this neighborhood and we fell in love with it. It’s an old mill town that investors have discovered in the last two years and began flipping. There’s a huge demand for downtown homes in our area. But not all houses are updated. Our community is currently in an interesting spot. There are nice, updated homes that have lots of young families and people who have lived there for years and are in not-so-updated homes. In our neighborhood, there are people of lower class all the way to upper-middle class. There are people of all color and walks of life. And we love it. It is safe, warm, and welcoming, despite what some may think. And best of all, it is a true representation of the world we live in. We’re stepping outside our usual box and it feels refreshing. How can we live in and understand a world where the only people we interact with are people just like us? (I don’t mean we all should move, but we all should step outside of our box every now and then.) We initially saw this move as a investment opportunity. And in this area, it really is. But God has shown us that His vision for us being here is much bigger than that. After our decision to buy, we’ve realized that God is doing amazing things in this community and by us moving there, we are joining with several other families who have moved there ready to invest in the neighboorhood, be the gap between these different residents, and most imporotantly, show God’s love. I am so excited to build a community here while we build our home and family. The reason I bring all of this up and give so much detail is for y’all to understand what this move is for us. Are we saints for giving up this nicer, bigger, fixed up home because God wanted us to? No, it was hard and I often doubted that we should. But over and over again, God has provided assurance and peace that this was the path. I’ve also learned that others will not always be in support of your decisions. But that doesn’t always mean the decisions are bad. We had many question why we were selling this house that we worked so hard on. When we mentioned that we would make a profit to put to debt, the response we often got was, “Oh, so you’ll buy a bigger house?” Moving up, so to speak. When we said that we were buying a smaller, cheaper house to reduce our debt and that it was in a downtown area that some would look at and turn up their nose, more judgement came our way. But the biggest thing I’ve learned from all of this is that if we are going the exact way of the world, we’re missing it. God calls us to go against culture and stand out. And if you’re confident in a decision, it doesn’t matter whether others are or not. Please understand I am not judging those who don’t understand our decision or who would make a different one for their own family. I fully recognize that our path is our path…not anyone else’s. This has been a struggle and I know the adventure is just beginning. And it’s an adventure with a lot of hard work. But we are so excited…so excited for the next home that lies ahead of us just waiting on lots and lots of love, but also excited for the new friends and community that we hope to build. Thank you for listening to my wordier-than-usual post today. There will be a lot of home renovation posts to come, but I had to let you guys see our heart and motivation in this. While I LOVE fixing up houses and decorating them, this life is bigger than houses and throw pillows and so is this move for us.
Jennifer Dudley says February 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm Love it, love your heart, and when God is in the decision YOU will love it. Reply
Kris says February 15, 2013 at 6:23 am I love this post, Lindsay. I totally get what you are feeling. The quotes you posted are perfect, but I also love your last line when you said “this life is bigger than houses and throw pillows and so is this move for us.” Good luck on the new adventure! I can’t wait to watch it unfold. Kris p.s. whenever my 6 year old sees me vistiing your blog and sees the picture on your header she says, “How did that lady get our reindeer picture again?” Ummmmm….she made it. 😉 Reply
Connie Ashburn says February 15, 2013 at 8:43 am Hi Lindsay – Great post today. We are in a similar situation in that we are being led to reduce debt and live simpler, as God so wants us to do! Getting wrapped up in worldly things is not His path. We have felt that same sense of a burden that we just don’t want to carry any more. We bought the home we are living in last February and spent months renovating it. It turned out beautiful, but the debt from it was so much more than we had planned. Once we were in the midst of the project (we didn’t live in it while we were renovating), it was like a moving train we couldn’t stop! So, we are interested in making a change. It may not be for a year or so, but I am interested in a downtown property that we can afford. Like you, most of the neighborhoods are out of our price range for the goals we have financially. I would be interested to know where the neighborhood you are moving to is. I am open to a “not yet perfect” place! If you would be able and willing to let me know, that would be great. I love reading your posts. I am anxious to see what’s next for you! Connie Reply
Kristen Wilson says February 15, 2013 at 2:39 pm I love seeing your heart in this post! Debt is one of the biggest reason we are renting (and while that seems backwards) it works to help pay off other debts first! We also just downgraded from our 2bedroom/2bath apt to a 1bed/1bath apt and got several negative opinions as well! So great that you trusted Chris (and the Lord) to take this leap of faith 🙂 And I am SOOO excited (and living vicariously through) your new home renos! Being a renter limits my ability to redecorate so I’m loving following along! Good luck and keep posting!! 🙂 Reply
Sharon w says February 15, 2013 at 3:20 pm So excited forgot Lindsay! We went down a similar path several years ago and have never regretted it. When God speaks to a person, they can obey or decide to weigh it against the ‘wisdom’ offered by a lot of well-meaning people. How ridiculous does that sound? But we do it everyday. Good for you and your husband to not only hear, but listen and see His purpose for you in it! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for you… 🙂 Sharon Reply
RD says February 19, 2013 at 10:09 am This is awesome. I love it. Emily and I just did a similar thing with our new house in terms of the area and feeling God call us there. What more do you need? Happy for you guys! Reply
Meghan says March 7, 2013 at 4:42 pm We are so thrilled to have you as neighbors! This is a fantastic place to live 🙂 Reply
Lindsay says March 8, 2013 at 7:40 am Thank you, sweet neighbor! We love it so much here, we can’t stand it. I’m actually posting about that today 🙂 Reply
[…] just a doll, but I have the utmost respect for her and her hubs in a recent decision they made to sell their house. I’ve loved getting to know Lindsey through emails, and if I’m lucky, maybe one day […] Reply