For many years, it was a desire of mine to own a home. Although it seemed I waited a long time to do so, in reality it was just a short time. I bought my grandmother's home two years ago in 2009. I had just turned 30 a month prior to the purchase. This was a pretty ambitious purchase for a 30 year old, single mom of two.
This home was such a blessing from God. Even today their are days that I look out the window into my yard or sit in my home and the pure joy of it is overwhelming. I could not be more grateful.
That being said, I have to mention how naive I was going into home ownership. We have had many unexpected's occur so far.
Days after spending our first Christmas here we had a torrential rain that made its way straight into our living room (I was using garbage can to hold the water and it was half full in half a day.) Come Feb. or March the entire roof was built out and replaced to correct the leaking (I did know about this before buying the home.)
Last year I spent many days without hot water, as my unit worked as it felt like it. The pilot went out almost daily and became harder and harder to relight. This went on over 3 months. I took many cold showers and washed my hands too many times with freezing cold water. Eventually I was able to replace the unit.
This year my dryer and dishwasher both still sort of work, but not really. The dryer drum has come separated from the dryer and things get lost in there or stuck and have to be pulled out (leaving said item covered in rust.) The dishwasher (even after me cleaning out filters and such a few times) is no longer cleaning dishes. If I put in a full load, maybe 1/4 of it comes out clean.
Now I can live without a dishwasher and dryer. The newest problem, however, I can not.
Last night I went to turn the heat on (it was 61 degrees in the house, I usually keep it at 64.) Nothing happened. I upped the heat. Still nothing. The furnace was not starting. I took the covers off the furnace to see if anything was switched off. I also made sure gas was on to entire house and to the furnace. It was. Still nothing. So we all bundled up and went to bed without it.
More upsetting over not having the money to pay the repair man or thought of needing a new furnace (worst case scenario), is not having someone to call who can carry the stress of this newest crisis. The burden is all on me. Or is it?
God gave me this home, He helps me pay each bill every month, He knew that yesterday the furnace would not work. Not only does He not want me to carry the stress alone, He wants to carry all the stress Himself. Although I can't see it right now, He already has a solution to this new problem.
Now, that does not mean I should do nothing. I need to work hard to maintain the home He has given me. I need to not spend my money foolishly, so I can save for an emergency fund. I need to educated my self on the repairs I can do. I need to invest in some tools so I can do those simple repairs myself.
But above all I need to pray and put my trust in Him.
-Becky
Friday, November 25, 2011
Home Ownership
Posted by Becky R at 1:46 PM
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8 comments:
I can't get over how ridiculous your post sounds. It saddens me greatly that there are people who feel the way you do.
Dear Anonymous, ridiculous is when one reads something and then feels the need to condemn the other person for expressing what they believe or how they feel.
If your sad, perhaps it is because you see something in yourself that isn't right. That something is missing.
AND if you don't like what someone else thinks, and since we are all entitled to our opinions, and also entitled to read elsewhere. That you are posting anonymously says so much about your character your caring about others and your need to bring others down
THAT being said, Becky, I am so proud of you, no matter what challenge you face, you face it straight on, God is in all our challenges, big, bad and ugly and yes even sad ones.
LOVE YOUR MOM
grrrh
Anonymous, it saddens ME that you feel the need to make disparaging comments on this very sincere young woman's blog. However, enjoy your morning ridicule with a side of sadness for something you can't understand. Cheers!
I have an old house with a new addition and heating systems for each. Last winter, the new heating system wasn't working right.it first acted up on Thanksgiving Day. I didn't want to wake up to freezing pipes, and had to learn a lot about my heating system. The temporary fix on that Thanksgiving Day got me through until the part that needed replacing (part cost $1100) arrived. I was grateful that things managed to keep working until the part got here and was greatful for the small snowblower i have so i could remove the snow a bit more easily (3-4 feet high, and cleard a path leading to the cellar door as well as around the side of the house to the vent). I was also grateful that i had the money put by for the part.
Gas burns more cleanly than oil, but you might want to have the furnace professionally cleaned, just in case there's build up on anything. We had to get a new part in our gas heater in PA after the unit was nearing 20 years old.
Rule of thumb is to allow 1-2% of the home's cost as money for repairs. Might seem like a lot, and if you're lucky, you won't need it right away or even every year. But, if you're able to put that much away each year, it's a relief when you have something major go wrong that you can fix without worry and just write a check to pay for it.
I know i did a LOT of talking to God when i all i knew was that it wasn't working as it needed to, and i had no clue how or what to look for. The repairman was very nice and showed me what to look for and how to restart things if i needed to (this was going to be a likely scenario, since the part could be several weeks in arriving).
megan
Dear Anonymous,
Hello! Not sure what saddens you, that I am grateful to God for my home, that I trust in Him, or that I realize daily the great responsibility and blessing of owning a home.
I know I could post about the dollars and cents that home ownership has cost me, but the reality is that my life doesn't always make sense. God has done so many things for me, things I could never do on my own (like buying this home and having money to replace roof, hot water heater, and more.)
So instead I chose to focus on not stressing, which God calls me not to do and focus on what I can do.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Regarding the dishwasher problem. Check if the heating rod in the dishwasher is black or white. If it is clean it should be black. If it is white, take a cup or two of vinegar and poor over the heating rod. Start the washing machine empty. If the rod is still not black, repeat till it is and then you will have clean dishes again.
Take care
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