Home Ownership

Last year I bought a town house. During the four previous years, I had lived in homes with three other single women, splitting rent and saving money. I am a person who tends to be content with my situation and resistent to change, so I was surprised when, in January of last year, I felt a strong nudge from the Lord to consider home ownership.

While living with three other girls had been a blessing, I felt the Lord calling me to have a home I could use for Him. He gave me a strong desire to have a place I could open up for Bible studies, a room I could offer to someone needing refuge and a space where I could feel free to invite someone over at any time. Without overspiritualizing the decision, home ownership was definitely something I felt called to.

That said, I appreciate what Candice Watters had to say in this week's Boundless article, "Single Female Seeking Homeownership, Part 2." Candice points out the fierce independence many young women display in decisions such as buying a house.

Again, I wasn't saying a home is something a single woman should never buy on her own. I know some very Godly single women who own their homes. I am saying that the attitude of extreme independence that characterizes many of the decisions young singles make today — about real estate and lots of other things — is incompatible with Christian marriage.

This article is a good reminder that single women — and everyone, for that matter — should humbly seek the Lord in every decision and not automatically adopt the world's definition of success. Proverbs 20:24 says, "A man’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?" Headstrong independence can have serious consequences. Single women may end up with things they don't really want at the cost of the things God desires for them.