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We bought a house.
And not just any old house (although it is a whopping 108 years old). This is the house we've been praying for; Not specifically, per se, but this house embodies the things we've been praying for for more than a year now.
Four bedrooms? Check. Two full baths? Check. Two floors of living space? Check. Rentable apartment in basement? Check. Huge backyard with entertaining area? Check. Two-car garage? Check. Within our budget and in a nice neighborhood? Check.
Looking at that list, it doesn't seem like we prayed for anything unusual, or even extraordinary. You see, a majority of homes in California have everything on this list, minus the basement apartment. But in Chicago? This list was HUGE. Maybe even impossible.
Here's the reality: When we decided to move to Chicago, we left behind more than half of our salaries. We left six figures for lower middle-class wages, and we're okay with that for the most part. But that left us at a huge disadvantage when trying to enter the real estate market here. Aside from our salaries, buying a home in the neighborhood we currently live in and where our church is located is completely out of the question. We are totally priced out of the market in Logan Square, where even 2-bedroom condos are going for upwards of $290k, plus $6k in property taxes and $300 monthly HOA fees. No thanks! We had to look elsewhere.
Then there's the issue of that list. That list fulfills all of our needs and wants in a house, and a home for our family. Four bedrooms? Yeah, right! Half of our friends' families are living in 2-bedroom flats with their kids sharing a room, and a small room at that. We're talking about OLD row houses, narrow and long, that have been divided into multi-unit flats. You're constantly below, above or in between other people, and there's no such thing as extra space or room to breathe. Welcome to city living! Getting four good-sized bedrooms, and two full floors of living space, is a prayer come true. This will allow us to have a larger guest room/office, boys' room, master and a fourth bedroom for, well, we'll see.....Who knows?!
Next up: bathrooms. People. Seriously. We have been living with one bathroom for a year and a half now. And adding two little humans without adequate bladder control? That's been interesting to say the least. I am beside myself with the thought of two FULL bathrooms where I may (*may) once again have privacy where a person should expect to have privacy. (Oh, and there's another full bathroom in the basement common area that needs some remodeling, which will leave us with 3 full baths!!!! Can you believe it?) Heavenly. Thank you, Lord!
Now, the basement apartment. First, let me educate you: This is a Chicago (city?) thing. They're called "garden units." I guess that sounds nicer than "basement
Then we have the backyard. {swoons} Do you know we have lived without any kind of yard for a year and a half? Living on the top floor of a 3-unit building doesn't really afford you an outdoor space, unless you have one of those suspension balconies, which really scare the heck out of me! Since getting the boys it has become increasingly obvious that we are desperate for a patch of grass, or slab of concrete that we can call our own. We had to invest in a portable BBQ for where we live now since we have to transport it up and down two flights of stairs just to barbecue on the front stoop. Fancy. But now....now we will have a big (by city standards) backyard with a double-layer deck and a patch of grass for the kids to play. God is so good!
A garage. This one might not seem like a big deal. It is, in fact, a luxury for most people in Chicago to have a car, let alone a garage. And we're getting a 2-car garage? What?! I cannot say how excited Rocky is about this garage. No more frozen windshield wipers! No more mounds of snow to brush off the car for 10 minutes before taking the kids to school! No more driving around the block hoping a spot opens up so you don't have to lug your groceries for a mile! Enough said.
But ultimately, all of this would mean nothing if the house hadn't been affordable or if it had been in a bad neighborhood (which, I'm ashamed to say that we totally compromised on the neighborhood for other houses we bid on. We wanted a house so bad that we tried to force God's hand by crossing things off our wish list. But God, in His goodness, like a good Father, let each of those contracts fall through so that He could show us the so-much-better house he had for our family.) We will be living in a safer neighborhood than we're in now and near a very good elementary school for the boys. Plus, our mortgage payment will only be $400 more than our rent payment has been. Once we get a renter in the basement, our mortgage payment will be LESS than what we are currently paying for rent.
So how did this happen? How did we get more than we prayed for for less money than we planned on spending? How did we get more than the best-case-scenario that we believed in our hearts to be true?
It's simple: God loves us.
So much.
He loves us so much.
I mean, can it get more simple than that? How about if He says this:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on
seeking,
and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be
opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who
seeks,
finds. And to
everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you
give
them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give
them
a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father
give
good gifts to those who ask him." (Matthew 7:7-10)
Amen.
Thank you, God.
Love your blogs!!! Miss you guys so much. I can't wait to see your new house and meet the boys. Love you all.
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