And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:57)
This past weekend, my husband Will and I spent almost two full days (well, the waking hours of two days) looking for a place to live when we move to Philadelphia. We looked at four rental places first, just in case we didn’t end up finding a house for sale that we liked.
And then we checked out what felt like an unending parade of houses. After that, we narrowed our choices for houses down to two. After that (the next day), we went back and visited those two again, assessing them in more detail. And after THAT, we finally decided to put in an offer on one of the houses.
It was exhausting.
Now I know why Jesus didn’t live anywhere and had nowhere to lay his head—he didn’t want to go through the process of finding a house!
I’m kidding.
…Mostly.
I mean, Jesus lived the ultimate minimalist lifestyle, traveling around doing ministry with very few personal possessions. His focus was on reaching people and helping them, not cultivating a mansion.
Since Will and I need a home and somewhere to lay our heads when we move to Philly, walking around with only the clothes on our backs Jesus-style isn’t really an option. So we looked for a house that would work for us and our new minimalist lifestyle.
I am happy to report that our offer on a house was accepted TODAY!
And no, it’s not a tiny house. 🙂 We are not tiny house people. I have a lot of respect for people who can live in a tiny house—but for us, we just looked for a modestly-sized home that was the best fit for us.
We are excited about our new house. It is right-sized for us and in a cool part of the city that is close to where I work and close to a possible co-working space for Will.
And although we started minimizing before we knew we were moving again, having less possessions will no doubt make the moving process less stressful than it was last time. And bonus—we won’t have to worry about having enough storage in a city house with less closet space, since we will have a LOT less stuff to store!
What kind of home do you think would fit you (and your family’s) actual needs and be “right sized” for you? Are you living in it now, or could you simplify and downsize a little bit (or a lot)?
4 Comments
Diane Luderman
February 26, 2018 - 9:09 pmBecca, why are you moving to Philly? Just curious…
Becca Ehrlich
February 26, 2018 - 9:10 pmI’m moving to the other campus of the seminary I work for! 🙂
John Kahler
February 26, 2018 - 9:58 pmCongratulations, and welcome back to the neighborhood! We went through a bunch of those look, bid, (and somebody else did a higher bid) and finally got the house we’ve been in for 15 (!) years. It’s too big, has too much stuff in it, and it’s daunting to consider that we need to let go of a bunch of things that we don’t have time to actually get rid of. The challenge of having combined two households into a brand new house which did not look crowded, and then jumping into our crazy las 20 years. Never a dull moment, never enough time. So far 🙂
Becca Ehrlich
February 26, 2018 - 10:02 pmThanks! I’m excited to be back, and to show Will the ropes when it comes to Philly living.
It’s definitely overwhelming to think of the amount of decluttering that needs to happen with a large, long-term house, as you said– but breaking up the work into little bits helps a lot. We have been working on it one room/storage area at a time, which has helped a lot. Like, spend 15 mins one day working on one drawer, 15 mins another day… and soon you will have done a whole chest of drawers!