Moving

Seven years ago, we accepted a position with our church as resident custodian, and moved into a 2 bedroom plus huge loft apartment in the eaves of the church building. It's a unique setup. The position comes with no income per se, but the apartment and all utilites except phone are paid for. When the part-time janitor resigned, we took on that part-time position as well, which was a paid position, and have had that position on and off over the seven years based on DH's health. Over time, we have come to realize that the two part-time positions, over and above DH's full-time job as chef, have become too much work for us. Yes, our 14yods now helps dad with mowing and church cleaning. But the work is still too much, and still takes up time that DH could be spending with our children, especially our soon-to-be man. The elder's have offered to move some of the custodial work to the janitorial position and would like us to stay on as custodians. But we are determined. Even moreso after this latest health concern.

We are moving to the other side of the city into the home DH and his family lived in for many years. His single brother still lives there, after the loss of both his parents and his single sister over the span of the last 5 years. His brother will occupy the upstairs flat, and we will occupy the main level flat and part of the basement. There is much work to do. But we feel peace about the decision, and DH feels a heavy load off his shoulders. (Of course, his is a bit overwhelmed at all that needs to be done to accomplish the move!)

When we moved in here seven years ago, we thought we'd only be here a couple years and then be able to afford a home of our own. But in that time, DH had several bouts of pancreatitis and has been dealing with diabetes and high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and we have added 3 more children and a dog to the family. God is good. He provided his place rent free prior to us knowing DH would be out of work for a while. We would surely have been evicted from the apartment we were living in prior to the move here for non payment of rent when he got sick. The church apartment was truly a blessing.

But while I would prefer 10 acres somewhere out of the city -- way out -- we are no closer to being able to afford our own place. When you choose to live on one income, you must make sacrifices. But the blessing of being able to stay home and home disciple our children is worth it. I don't know what God may be preparing us for next. I know things will be difficult. There will be loss of income. There will be utilities to pay. There will be perhaps real estate taxes and/or other expenses to contribute towards. (Thankfully, there is no mortgage on the house, so a large rent payment will not be necessary. DH still needs to sit down with his brother and iron out the details of the agreement. But his brother is excited we are moving in.) I look around us at the high gasoline prices, the exhorbitant housing costs (and though they're going down in the housing slump, they're still way beyond affordable for us). the increased cost of everything, even groceries at Aldi -- and I'm concerned. I truly believe the economy will get much worse before it gets better. Some are even predicting another "Great Depression." Perhaps we need to move elsewhere to get through all that is coming. Perhaps someone else is in need of this apartment and it is time for us to move on. I can't see the big picture. Only God can. But we are confident that He is in this.

And while I love my church (I've been here since I was a newborn), we also believe it may be time for us to look elswhere for a church family. We are the only homeschoolers in our congregation. It has been difficult over the years. We are different. Our 14yods has not attended youth groups since he was perhaps 8. While our homeschool support group is our lifeline in our home discipleship way of life, it would be nice to attend a church with likeminded home discipleship families, where fathers are equipped and even held accountable to "train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," where children and youth and teen programs are not the mainstay/backbone, but where families participate in activities as families and children are not always "in the back" with a child care provider.

We started a monthly hymn sing at our church about two years ago, in the hopes of encouraging others to embrace home discipleship (whether they chose to homeschool or not). And while we have good attendance, the concept -- really, the command -- to home disciple is still strange to everyone here. (Perhaps it is partly due to the very large numbers of public school educators and administrators in our congregation. While I applaud those Christians who enter that area of work hoping to make an impact, I still feel that those children in the school system have been "thrown to the wolves.") We have tried intergenerational Sunday School, which was received with mixed reviews and would certainly not be allowed to replace the current age-segregated Sunday School environment.

Anyway, I've gone on too long. We plan to be completely moved by the end of August. So we are aggressively "lightening the load." I have no desire to have a yard sale, so unfortunately, the dumpsters are getting quite full. But I feel a sense of accomplishment that there is less "stuff."

In Christ Alone,
Barb