The Lease
It seems like we've done this before.
Last Friday Harvey met with our former landlord and signed a lease for our house in Washington, the same house we lived in when we moved to DC for the first time in January 2013.
When Harvey accepted his current position and we knew we would be moving back, we contacted our landlord to see whether and when the house might be available again. It worked great for us before, so we thought we might as well check on it. She seemed excited at the possibility of having us back, and she said it would be available in the summer. Since we had planned for the kids and me to stay in Oklahoma through the end of the school year, we told her we were interested and we would get back in touch in April to sign a lease.
In the mean time, over the next few months, we checked the Web regularly to see if any other homes came up that we were interested in. We wanted to be in the same area (close to Harvey's job, close to our church), and we knew what we could afford. We saw very few options that fit both of those criteria, and of those few (some of which Harvey viewed in person), none that we liked as well as our old house.
That was until about three weeks ago. We found a house very close to our old neighborhood for the same rent as we were planning to pay for our old house. It was bigger and had some nicer features (a driveway! a garage! central air!), and it was in an adjacent neighborhood that we were familiar with.
Harvey went to see this house. He liked it, but he still preferred the old one--its location, its charm and character, and a couple other things like the fenced backyard and the dining room. He liked the fact that we knew how everything would fit in it and it would be easier to settle back in. I was still uncertain. I was lured by the extra space (including an extra bathroom) and the other conveniences I mentioned.
Then the owner of the second house offered Harvey a lower rent--$100 less than what he originally asked and less than what we'd pay for the old house. This certainly made that second house more tempting. When Harvey and I sat down and discussed it, both of us were torn. We saw good and bad about both, and we struggled to reach a decision.
The main reason we felt the urgency to choose a house quickly was that we applied for schools for the kids through the DC common lottery, and the kids were matched, but the enrollment deadline is May 1. In order to enroll, you must verify residency. In order to verify residency, you must have a DC residence (or at least show that you will before the start of school). So we needed to have a rental agreement to show the schools we're enrolling our kids in that we do (or will) live in DC.
After a day of fasting and prayer, we came to the decision to stick with the old house. That had really been our plan all along, and we were content to follow through with it. God has been speaking to me a lot lately about fear, and my prayer in this situation was that he would help me be satisfied with what he provided and not be filled with fear and regret once the decision was made. He is working in me to answer that prayer. My only fear should be my fear of him, a trusting, obeying fear that believes in his greatness and sovereignty.
So the exciting part of moving back to the old house and the old hood is that we get to rekindle relationships with our neighbors there. I'm sure it won't be as simple as picking up where we left off, but we will try to reconnect, and in time I trust God will bless and work in those relationships again.
The signed lease means it's real. The move is really happening. We've considered several options for our future over the past few months, including staying in Oklahoma with the goal of running for state office. We believe that it could still be possible for us to pursue that goal sometime in the next few years. But God has provided this job for Harvey, and we have committed to it and we see him working in it. So we will follow this job and the one who provided it back to Washington, back to the house where we learned to love our capital city. And we'll just keep parkin' in the street.
Last Friday Harvey met with our former landlord and signed a lease for our house in Washington, the same house we lived in when we moved to DC for the first time in January 2013.
In the mean time, over the next few months, we checked the Web regularly to see if any other homes came up that we were interested in. We wanted to be in the same area (close to Harvey's job, close to our church), and we knew what we could afford. We saw very few options that fit both of those criteria, and of those few (some of which Harvey viewed in person), none that we liked as well as our old house.
That was until about three weeks ago. We found a house very close to our old neighborhood for the same rent as we were planning to pay for our old house. It was bigger and had some nicer features (a driveway! a garage! central air!), and it was in an adjacent neighborhood that we were familiar with.
Harvey went to see this house. He liked it, but he still preferred the old one--its location, its charm and character, and a couple other things like the fenced backyard and the dining room. He liked the fact that we knew how everything would fit in it and it would be easier to settle back in. I was still uncertain. I was lured by the extra space (including an extra bathroom) and the other conveniences I mentioned.
Then the owner of the second house offered Harvey a lower rent--$100 less than what he originally asked and less than what we'd pay for the old house. This certainly made that second house more tempting. When Harvey and I sat down and discussed it, both of us were torn. We saw good and bad about both, and we struggled to reach a decision.
The main reason we felt the urgency to choose a house quickly was that we applied for schools for the kids through the DC common lottery, and the kids were matched, but the enrollment deadline is May 1. In order to enroll, you must verify residency. In order to verify residency, you must have a DC residence (or at least show that you will before the start of school). So we needed to have a rental agreement to show the schools we're enrolling our kids in that we do (or will) live in DC.
After a day of fasting and prayer, we came to the decision to stick with the old house. That had really been our plan all along, and we were content to follow through with it. God has been speaking to me a lot lately about fear, and my prayer in this situation was that he would help me be satisfied with what he provided and not be filled with fear and regret once the decision was made. He is working in me to answer that prayer. My only fear should be my fear of him, a trusting, obeying fear that believes in his greatness and sovereignty.
So the exciting part of moving back to the old house and the old hood is that we get to rekindle relationships with our neighbors there. I'm sure it won't be as simple as picking up where we left off, but we will try to reconnect, and in time I trust God will bless and work in those relationships again.
The signed lease means it's real. The move is really happening. We've considered several options for our future over the past few months, including staying in Oklahoma with the goal of running for state office. We believe that it could still be possible for us to pursue that goal sometime in the next few years. But God has provided this job for Harvey, and we have committed to it and we see him working in it. So we will follow this job and the one who provided it back to Washington, back to the house where we learned to love our capital city. And we'll just keep parkin' in the street.
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