Hebrews 12:1 directs followers of Jesus to “throw off everything that hinders”.  We decided that owning a home was a hindrance to doing and being all that God wanted from us.  So, we decided to downsize and sell our house.  We were planning to be renters again, but the timing of the Halls leaving coincided with our decision to move.  We packed up our four bedroom house, with ample storage space and moved into a three bedroom house with less storage space.  This move into the house that Hope rents will benefit us and the Church, because once our house sells, I will be able to reduce my salary. We are doing everything we can to ensure that Hope is established as a self-supporting church.

The boys are sharing a room together again.  My office (the 3rd bedroom) is also storage for most of the things that Hope owns.  The new house is definitely smaller, but it really is enough space and significantly bigger and nicer than what most people in the world live in.  A broader perspective from visits to countries like Venezuela and Mexico helps me to keep in check what I need to live.

Packing is terrible.  Moving is horrible.  This is our fifth move in a little over four years.  I don’t want to move again for a very, very long time.  We made a concerted effort to get things unpacked as quickly as possible.  We’ve done well.  Everything is unpacked and in its place.  The only thing that remains to do is hang pictures on the walls.  Our old house is a different story.  We have some cosmetic projects like painting and landscaping to complete before we can put the house on the market.  My goal is to have the house on the market by mid-October.

The exterior shots of the new house show that we are right beside the church building.  Jennifer wanted the world to see the box mountain that she created during the unpacking process.

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