At the beginning of this year John and I started discussing what our next step was as far as where we wanted to live because we both knew moving back to our current house was only temporary. After much discussion about many different options we ended up both agreeing that our heart was on the South Side. After a few months of talking about this we decided to meet with the guys at CLDI (Community Leadership & Development, Inc.) and talk about our thoughts and desires. We left that meeting feeling very encouraged and also grateful for the opportunity to make some great new friends. After a few discussions with them we fully intended to build a house on South 30th Street.
In the midst of making these decisions we encountered some rather unfortunate events. I will make a long story short and say that our house was broken into a couple different times and a very significant amount of money was stolen. Along with that our house we sold contract for deed had arrived at the deadline for closing which is when we received more lovely news that because of various reasons our house was appraised for a significant amount of money less then we sold it for.
After all of this I won’t lie, we were left feeling disheartened, discouraged, and disappointed. We, of course, would have never chosen for these things to happen to us. But they did happen and getting upset over them would accomplish nothing. Everything we own is God’s, and though I do not understand why this happened He is in control. He allowed this to happen so we trust that He had purpose in all of this even if we never have any clue as to what that purpose was.
So, what next? We prayed. We said, “God, we desire to go to the South Side and feel it would honor you. So even though we are not sure how we will afford this we are going to continue to pursue this until you close every door.” So we drew up our house plans and waited. In the midst of this, our renter moved out (it was on rather awful terms) and our rental was left absolutely trashed. Sigh… the joys of being a landlord. We filled ten 40 gallon garbage bags with junk she left behind. Then we proceeded to repaint and clean every inch of the place to remove the disgusting filth she left behind. The night we had finally finished all the work on our rental John was looking at new listings on the MLS (like he always does) and saw this HUD home on Monroe. He asked me if I was at all interested in it and I said no. Then he asked if I cared if he went to look at it anyway and I said not at all. In my mind “knowing” that once he saw the house it would most likely never line up to my criteria (we had been through this conversation before). However, to my surprise that was not at all the tune he was singing. I came home from work and he said, “Dancy, I would really like you to just look at this house and if you say no then that’s that.” So I agreed and the next morning we went to look. Don’t get me wrong, the place was disgusting!! It was actually a meth house (yes we have looked into how to properly take care of that whole situation). Every square inch of that thing needed to be ripped down do the bare walls and redone, but the guts of it were in great shape and the layout for the most part worked for us. The next day was actually when the first bidding process was (go figure) and I agreed that we could throw a bid out there. Our prayer that night was, “Lord, we think this is a great deal and a good fit for us but You see things we do not, so if this in any way not what You would have for us then please slam the door shut!” The next day our bid was accepted.
Now, I want to take a minute and specify that this is in NO WAY us settling! We are BOTH very excited about this new endeavor. I know that many may not understand nor support our decision. With that being said we also find great support and encouragement by many of our wonderful friends and also others who share our vision.
Questions we are often asked:
• Why? The answer, because it’s what we feel passionate about!! Jesus went to the poor, the needy, the prostitutes, the tax collectors. He loved those who others deemed unlovable or unworthy of love. We are in no way comparing ourselves to Jesus. We fall far below that, we simply look forward to building relationships with neighbors some of whom others may choose to avoid.
• Aren’t you concerned for your family’s safety? The first thing I want to say in response to this is we adore our girls and our family as a whole and we do not take this matter lightly. Of course there are risks, but there are risks everywhere! John and I over analyze everything and I guarantee you we have thought of just about every possibility. However, we do not want to allow fear to grip our lives, because fear is not from God. From early on it seems we are instilled with this idea that we should fear certain neighborhoods, because of this we fear what we have had absolutely no experience in. The truth, yes, there are dangerous people sure, but the majority are people who are just plain poor. There are many single moms who are working two dead end jobs to provide for their children. They love their children just as much as we love ours and are trying to provide a home full of love. There are also young families struggling to start their lives together. We personally find that in this sort of environment we do not feel the need to keep up with the Jones’ but instead find a feeling of contentment. We hope through this our children will learn to appreciate things and not take them for granted. From the day I held my first baby in my arms my prayer was that our kids would understand how to love and serve people well. We don’t want to raise our children to simply donate a can of food or a dollar or two to people in need. We want to teach them how to love those people when no one else would and instead of throwing them a hand out, teach and encourage them how to work for things so they can get that feeling of accomplishment and self-worth. We do not intend on causing a revival in the neighborhood. We just want to live life in community with those around us. If someone comes to know Christ through it then that’s awesome. But our intention is not to “save” people. We just want to love people and when opportunities arise serve them however we can.
Life is not easy, and we do not expect it to be. We know that because of our decision, situations will arise, but we also know God is always with us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. If he can protect Daniel in the lion’s den, and helped David defeat Goliath, and could deliver Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace, I know He can protect our family. God sent His son to die and save a wretch like me, I owe him everything.
