Moving On.

Saturday is moving day for the Carpenter Family.  It feels surreal.  Tim and I have been looking forward to this day for a few years now and it is finally near.  Of course, the circumstances are different than we'd originally hoped for (we are in the process of short-selling our home), but the moving day is here nonetheless.

Living in Nottingham has been a challenge.  Looking back, I think Tim and I bought the house too soon before we had really figured out what made the most sense for our life together and especially for the future of our family.  We are too far from Tim's work (which also happens to be our church), we cannot afford the mortgage on one salary, and we aren't in a town that meets our needs or desires.  We bought the house at the height of the market and within a year the bubble burst.  Some of these things were preventable and predictable, others not so much.  After literally years of trying to sell traditionally, refinance, live in community with friends, seek help from government programs and now to short-sell, it seems our journey with the house is almost over.  An offer is on the table and we should hear soon whether the bank accepts or rejects the offer; we're praying for approval and the ability to move on without issue.

As a Christian I have truly struggled with our decision to short-sell and especially how it ultimately contributes further to the downturn of the real-estate market.  While I have no emotional attachment to my home I do dislike being a part of the overall problem.  I realize there are many people out there, believers and non-believers, who would look at our situation and say that I should have never quit my job to stay at home with Stella if we couldn't "afford" it - that we made a financial commitment before becoming parents and it is our responsibility to stick with it until things turn around.  Having a child changed much about our life direction, and aside from my relationships with Jesus and my husband there is nothing more important than my commitment to raising my child at home.  Any other job (or house, for that matter) will be available to me someday should I choose to go back to work when Stella is older, but I could never get back the years I would have missed had I chosen to put my mortgage ahead of my family.  I have confidence that Stella's childhood will be better spent with me in an apartment than if I was working full-time/she was in day-care full-time just to stay in our house and have nicer, newer things.  [P.S. Having been raised by a single mom who worked full-time I am well aware of the sacrifices that some women HAVE to make in order to provide for their family - and, thank you mom...you have been a wonderful mother to me.]

On Saturday, we say goodbye to the best neighbors anyone could ask for.  We say goodbye to the quiet of the woods, a fenced in backyard, and the pond.  We say a final goodbye to our beloved dog, Tank, who was struck by a car three years ago and died in front of our house, and who is buried on the hill overlooking his favorite spot on earth.  

On Saturday, we say hello to a neighborhood with sidewalks out our front door.  We say hello to walks downtown, to the river, the playground, and to the public library.  We say hello to our new neighbors and to opportunities to care for and minister in a new community.  We say hello to our future and we move on with all the lessons God has taught us in the past four years of living in Nottingham.

I may be leaving my house behind,
but I'm bringing the two most important things with me!