Now we're selling. We were going to rent out our house, but we got to thinking. House prices in Boise are through the roof right now. They can't keep going up much longer, so now is the time to get out before the bubble bursts...again. We weren't completely decided, but close. That is, until I went to bed. Then the anxiety kicked in big time. I laid awake for hours before finally drifting in and out of a fitful sleep for the rest of the night after I prayed about it and calmed down a bit. I didn't have any clear thoughts about why we shouldn't sell, just massive anxiety over it.
I talked to Abe about it the next day. We prayed for clear guidance on what to do, talked through the pros and cons (pros - less stress while traveling, more money in the bank, cons - not having a house to come back to for me, selling all of our belongings for Abe). It seemed like selling was the right decision, but I was still really uneasy about it. I realized that the house was a safety net - no matter what happened, we'd own some property. But wasn't a huge part of this next year to be reliant on God? If so, why did I need a safety net? We prayed some more.
The next day, Abe hit the internet, looking for articles on whether to sell or rent. Most agreed that you should sell, but nothing completely applied to our situation, so I was still unsure. Then he came across one that pointed out something that neither of us had thought about. Taxes. We would be paying taxes on the rent money, which would cut the amount we would be making above our mortgage in half. With the potential of something going wrong - late payments, property damage, a renter leaving and us not finding another one right away, which would mean we would have to take the mortgage out of our savings, renting was suddenly seeming really risky. More of a risk than either of us was wanting to take.
We prayed twice, and each time we came up with more reasons to sell. The way I figure, God doesn't answer prayers with a letter from Heaven stating what we should or should not do, but if I'm going to have faith in Him, that means going off of the guidance that I get. Maybe there's a theologian out there who can correct me on that, but what's the point of asking for guidance if you aren't willing to listen to what you receive? (Caveat, if it's clearly against what the Bible says, don't listen. It isn't God.)
Here we come, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist! Abe has already begun the purge. Today, we sold an office chair, and Abe posted a few more things. He's enjoying going around the house to see what is worth posting. When we're done, we'll have an estate sale. There are a few things I'm sad to see go. One of the things I'm really proud to own is our 1915 Cheney record player. But as Abe and I keep reminding each other, it's just stuff. We'll keep a bin or two for sentimental items. If you want to know what a 1915 record player sounds like, listen below.
Comments