Over the past year, Danny and I have been looking into buying a
place. Not because we are positive we want to live in
Chicago forever (which is a question we have been asked quite a bit), but because at this point in our lives we would rather be paying a mortgage than rent, and we really want to invest ourselves in a community. Over the summer we found a place
right down the street from us which was a “short sale”. We really liked it, we
already loved our neighborhood (Roscoe Village) and we thought it made sense to
buy it. As many of you know, the short sale process can be tricky and
ironically a very long process. Over the
course of the 7 months we were waiting on the short sale, God started
tugging on Danny’s heart about a particular corner of Chicago (Division and
Clybourn). He started reading about it, walking around and praying there,
however he didn’t want to tell me until he felt really sure about it. We found out in December that our short sale
fell through, and Danny said, “God has been speaking to me about somewhere
else...” and he told me all about it. At first when he said, “well, it actually
used to be Cabrini Green…” I froze inside because when I was in high school, I
heard horror stories of Cabrini Green. However, he went on to tell me about the new park, the
community garden, the new buildings and the restoration happening there. During
the peak of the housing market, a developer started building town houses and
mid-rises but then ran out of money during the downturn. The city of Chicago bought the property
and are using it as sort of an experiment. Rather than pushing the low-income
community out, they made it into mixed income housing where a variety of
people can own and live. While there are mixed emotions within the community
regarding this experiment, Danny and I are both energized by the idea of being
a part of a community that is being restored.
We want to be part of that restoration and get involved in the
community.
We went to look at the last unit in the mid-rise building on the corner Danny was
drawn to, and it actually sold while we were looking at it (another person looking at it literally
pulled out his check book in front of us!).
The realtor told us that there is actually one townhouse (these are connected to the building) that will be
for sale because it is the model home and the last town house just sold that
week. We went to look at it and loved it. Just walking around we felt a peace
and excitement that we have not felt looking anywhere else. It is way more
spacious than we thought we could afford and it has a front yard…which is a
miracle in Chicago. After we said, “We’ll take it!”…there have been many more confirmations that this is where we are supposed to be. This whole process has been convicting and eye opening to
me…for some reason I never really thought about God speaking to us about a home
to buy, and we didn’t really seek Him when putting an offer down on the short
sale. However through this process, I
have been amazed by His direction and provision. God wants to be involved in
all parts of our lives….little and big…and this has been a really good reminder to me.
We move in this weekend and we will keep you posted on what we are learning and
experiencing.
Yay!! Wish we were there to help you move in... SO excited for ya!
ReplyDeleteI am seriously SOOOOOOO excited to see and hear all that God does in your lives and the lives around you as you move! You will be a light for Him!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love that you are doing this blog! It makes me very happy to keep up with my Colleenie more!!!!
(This is Rach-gato by the way he he)
I am so excited for you guys! Can't wait to come visit you ...one day! :)
ReplyDeleteSo when is the party???? Cant wait to see the new place, you just let us know when you are ready for visitors, maybe I can get Lyle to make some housewarming jerky!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see it in person! Miss you and love you... you're on a blogging ROLE! I didn't check it for a few weeks and am so far behind!
ReplyDeletei love that building! so pretty! i cant wait to see it inside too :) Love the whole story how this happened too! Love you guys and excited for you!
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