Homeownership / Mission field

The long-held dream of buying a slightly crappy house in a slightly shady neighborhood is almost fulfilled.  We expect to close next Monday. 

It's been a long process, but not nearly so fraught and stressful as I had imagined it would be.  Here's to studying the process ahead of time, so we knew what to expect from each step of the way.  Also to being secure and content with our current situation made us patient.  We had very strict criteria (only Hilltop, within easy biking distance to work, 3+ bedrooms, etc) and were willing to wait until we satisfied all of them.  We passed up a lot of homes which were nice, but fell short in one way or another.  Of course, it does help to buy in a slumping market during a recession when interest rates will remain low; but the biggest factor, I believe, to getting the house we wanted, was being happy with where we're at and therefore being willing to wait.

So now we're going to get a livable house in a convenient location, half a block from one of the coolest mini-parks in the city and about 4 blocks from Wright Park.  I'll be literally a half-mile from work, we'll have a back yard to turn the kids loose in, and we'll be in a diverse neighborhood. 

I've been obsessively riding past it almost every day on my commute to work.  I think the neighbors think I'm some sort of creepy biking vagrant.  Speaking of which, I know there are several who hang out in the neighborhood and have gotten into the habit of cutting through the property to get to the alley behind it.  I expect to have to have some discussions with drifters about using a different route.

On the flip side, though, one of the things I look forward to most is getting to know the people around us.  It's what I love most about the place we're in now, and what I'll miss most about it- getting to know our neighbors. 

Lisa and I believe that loving the people around us is the best way to live a Christian life.  Our neighborhood is our mission field.  Now to clarify, we're not crazy evangelical nuts who keep some silly tally of "converts" who we talked into saying the "sinners prayer."  But rather, we genuinely want to love and serve the people around us, and how better to reach someone than through daily interaction and support?  This is a big reason we don't want to live in UP or Gig Harbor (no offense to those who do, mind you), because those people don't really need that in the same way. 

Around here it has taken the form of going outside and hanging out and talking with the neighborhood kids.  Saying hi, smiling, and remembering their names.  We've taken a few on regular library trips.  We go to the playground and play.  We invite them in our home and talk about their day.  Simple stuff, nothing heroic, but meaningful. 

Now we're going to repeat that in our new place, but we're going to miss the kids around here.