A few of you “knew” I was “moving”. That was the plan. The (shameful?) truth was while I was thankful that Jason made it easy to find a place to live, I was still looking for a better place. It wasn’t necessarily that this place is bad, just that I specifically knew of a better place. My friends Ben and Vivi live in a place where there are like 8 apartments, and I was waiting for one to empty out. I even told Jason’s landlord that I planned on moving and I would let him know when. That was December.
The landlord at the other place told me there would be a space available in January when he was set to kick out someone who lived there. It was on the correct side of the building – the side with an awesome cross breeze and two balconies, one of which was going to be my own, attached to my room – and it was on the top floor, so it would be really quiet and really private. I was in love.
At the end of December, I talked with the landlord, and the guy who was being evicted showed up randomly also. I told both of them I had to be out of my place by January 4th, and the guy said he was going on vacation for Christmas and would come back on the 2nd to get his stuff out. On the 4th I went over to see what was up and start cleaning. I was told the kid never came back from vacations. Even his mom didn’t know where he was. I ended up having to rent my place for another month in the meanwhile, though I expected only to need a week or two. You can do that here. It’s a pretty chill rental market.
A couple weeks later I went to the landlord again to see what was up. He hadn’t yet heard from the guy, but he said after the 20th, when he could legally start removing the guy’s stuff, he would empty it out for me. I said fine, I wouldn’t bug him again until I heard from him. The 20th came and went with no word. I went to Argentina expecting to hear from him because Ben said he would talk to him. I forgot to take into consideration that my phone might not work in Argentina. I never got the call that was made.
I got back from Argentina on February 1st and decided to stay where I was. I was miffed that I never heard anything from the other guy and I couldn’t keep going month to month with my present landlord. On the 2nd I verbally agreed to stay in the apt, and on the 4th he came and I signed the contract. On the 3rd I got a call from the other landlord saying the apartment was empty and ready to view. I had to tell him I had already committed to stay where I was. All he could say was “Oh.”
Here’s the thing: I think God did this. Between the time I was waiting for the guy (who we actually had assumed had died on vacation), my heart started being more content where I was. It’s not a bad place. I had just started to make friends with my neighbors. One thing I was glad for with the other apartment was that I could tell the hordes of boys that come to sleep every Saturday night nearly without fail that they couldn’t come anymore. I felt like they take advantage of the proximity and my food and space without contributing to anything. It was while I was lamenting that when I felt the Spirit say to me “perhaps this is one of the things I want you to do while you’re here.”
So it’s gotta be God’s doing that my dream apartment that had every reason to be mine during January doesn’t become available until the day after I make a contract to stay where I am. I still need God to change my heart about the boys, but it’s coming. Maybe we need to establish some boundaries; maybe that’s one of the things God wants me to do – teach them how to be gracious guests or maybe just be a good example of a Godly man. Pray for us.
-j
I'm Jason, and I like to write.
(Smile) I’m glad to hear you’re staying there.
I feel like I’m reading about myself a year ago when you write about having ungrateful boys spend the weekends. I made a fracaso out of it, though, when I got really upset after they used all of my expensive American shaving cream in a fight and then trashed the house while I was away. Trust me– it’s a lot sadder thing when those guys don’t show up anymore because they don’t feel welcome. Then again, they do need to learn some manners, too. Either way, I pray God’s mercy and patience for you.