To move or not to move

That is the question. Crunch time is upon us...a lovely notice landed in our mailbox Friday indicating that if we decide to renew our lease with our apartment complex, we need to sign and return the notice within two weeks and welcome the increase in rent with open arms. The problem with that is it's an 8-9% increase in rent. The new total is equal to a mortgage or more and why would Craig and I stay in a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment when we could buy a house? (in addition, the apartment complex divides the water bill by square feet of your apartment, not off consumption - which is a total crock). The slumping market is prime for buying if you can get approved for a loan, which we both feel we qualify. We don't need anything extravagant, just something safe and bigger than what we currently live in. We're not into keeping up with everyone else and houses have gotten so large and expensive to maintain.

The problem with all this is that finding a house takes time - two weeks notice. plus the two months we have remaining on our lease is all we have to find, make a deal, get financing, pack and move. We are currently looking at foreclosed houses because banks want to unload that burden and you can get a pretty good deal - that and the only way we can swing two mortgages is to find a house here on the CHEAP.

Craig and I were laying on the bed talking the other night about what we were going to do when a though entered my head. If we didn't tithe, we'd have a mortgage payment easily. It was a nasty thought and when I spoke the words out loud, I realized I shouldn't have thought it. The truth is that all we are given is truly the Lord's blessings upon us and giving Him our first fruits is something Craig and I have learned to do with joy. I know that every earthly blessing we've been given is because of the Lord - the fact that we can afford the cabin and just closed on a 30 year fixed loan at a great interest rate, and that we can make monthly rent payments on an apartment is mind boggling to me. We have more than we need and if that means we renew our lease for another year, we renew our lease for another year. It's as simple as that.

Whatever happens, I give it up and away to the Lord.