Just to give a bit of background, we have been planning to move to a more rural setting for several years now. We've dreamed, researched, planned, and discussed it till there was literally nothing left but to do it. We listed our home with a realtor about five years ago. But unfortunately, we missed the housing bubble by the slimmest of margins. In a matter of a few weeks we went from sitting on a fair amount of equity to being upside-down by nearly an equal figure. Some folks that we knew that were somewhat experienced in land and real estate speculation suggested we sit on it a couple years and the housing market should correct by then. That didn't happen.
Despite all this, we hung in like troopers and tried, like so many have, to make the best of things. At about the four year point, we were in a slow tail slide to foreclosure. Around the same time, our youngest son was injured in a fall and required some emergency dental care. It was a cross-roads type situation. Pay the bills, or pay the dentist. The dental bill actually didn't turn out to be all that devastating, yet it was just enough to finally tip us over the edge.
Now, I'm not writing this in order to say that it's ok to default on honest debt. Everyone has their own decision to make as far as that goes. That was one of many fairly difficult decisions that we were required to make. I'm not seeking sympathy either. I am mostly committing this to record, because there are many friends and family members who have been somewhat confused and/or disapproving of the situation. Right or wrong, agree or disagree, the die is now cast. There is no going back, so I feel it's time to be more open about it.
We are deeply spiritual people, and have always tried to do things right and proper. We have not only agonized over the proper course to take, but we have also probably put in several man-years of prayer about it. Nobody said that the life of faith would be easy, but it is what we are determined to live. I won't attempt to say that God told us to default. I rather would say that this is the result of some bad financial decisions in the past and a bad economy now. Whenever I seek the face of the Almighty and attempt to find His will, it seems His answer always is, "Do you trust Me?". The answer is yes. If I don't then what choice to I have? I already know what my own capabilities are. I have seen the kind of damage I can do.
Our faith and trust have not been misplaced. We were able to purchase our RV trailer at about 2/3 the cost of it's market value. It will be free and clear as of this Saturday. What a blessing. Moving in to an RV park is also saving us at least half of the outgo we have had in our house. Another blessing.
The process has had it's effects at changing the way we look at life too. We have had to say goodbye to many of our accumulated possessions. You can accumulate a lot in 20 years of marriage. Yet, it wasn't as hard to do as we thought it would be. We were able to bless some people that needed furniture and household goods. It actually felt pretty good. We also had the motivation to just throw away a lot of accumulated cruft. Bottom line, is it's just stuff (Stupid Things U Find Fascinating). The important thing is the people that are in our lives, and serving our Creator. All the other stuff just seems to take care of itself. We are together as a family we have a roof over our heads, and we have basic living necessities. We are thankful.
We have no clear picture of what's next, or where we will be headed. We have a few ideas, even preferences. But our lives are in His hands. I guess they always were, but we are now much more aware of it.
And we're good with it.
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