06 10 11 Just Taking a Look

We came very close to not being able to buy our bioshelter home. The fact that we are here at all is a story worth telling.

In 2007 I moved from North Pole, Alaska to a small apartment in Anchorage to begin a new job. One day I got an email from Cindee (in North Pole at the time) asking if I had time to drive to Eagle River to look at a house. She had been googling “green-built houses” and something called a “bioshelter” came up. It sounded interesting, so I went to give it a look.

Afterward I called Cindee and told her we could never afford a house like that, but I was certainly glad I had looked at it. I told her about the solarium, the water systems, the heat sink and the beauty of both the house and the landscape in the Chugach Mountains, and said it was a dream. But it was well out of our price range. We couldn’t even make a respectable offer. We, of course, continued looking. Little did I know Cindee had emailed the owner to contact her if the price ever came down.

Time passed. The house sold, but then the deal fell through and the price came down. The house sold again, and again the deal fell through.

One day we got a phone call from the realtor. After the second sale had fallen through, the banks began threatening to foreclose. Would we put an offer on the table? I began working and reworking budgets—we would have to borrow much more heavily than we had intended. Cindee began making plans about financial sacrifices we could make, and a business, Alaskan Ecoescape, she could operate out of the house. It was not long before we were paying earnest money and signing paperwork.

The next hurdle came as a surprise. The AHA (Alaska Housing Authority), a state regulatory agency, turned down our loan application. This was not a conventional home, they said. It did not have a well or a septic system. Just fix that, they told us, and we could get the money. Of course, if we fixed that it would cease to be a bioshelter.

Cindee wrote letter upon letter to our state legislators. How could the state be for moving toward sustainable living, she asked, and turn down a basic mortgage for one of the most innovative sustainable-living homes in the state? Their staff members began contacting the AHA.

Pretty soon Loren Leman, once lieutenant governor of Alaska and an environmental engineer, came to inspect the house. I came out with him and watched him go through each system of the house with great delight. In short, we received a positive statement from Loren Leman and our loan was approved. We signed on the dotted line. It nearly took an act of congress, but we were finally allowed to sign.

The hardest part for me on this journey came when I brought a realtor friend along for some practical advice. Our friend noted how hard it would be to resell. Just as these sellers were finding it difficult to get a sale through, we could expect the same. He pointed out that it was built on a mountain that took 31 steps up from the driveway to the front door—all of which had to be shoveled in the winter. He pointed out that the system was unconventional, making maintenance a real issue. He pointed out that the commute to Anchorage for my work was significant. In the end he recommended against buying the bioshelter.

Yet, despite all this practical advice, it became clear to us that buying the house had to be the right decision.

Seeing life as a spiritual journey has meant being willing to take a risk. According to my faith tradition this should be no surprise. Moses spent decades hiding in the wilderness, but learned to pay attention and really look at the world around him. When he looked, he saw a bush aflame with the Spirit of God and realized he was on holy ground. With that realization came a revelation that he had to risk the rest of his life for the future.

When I went to the house, just to take a look, I was very moved but saw no possibility. The possibilities slowly began to line up, anyway. When I brought Cindee and she looked, it was all over and there was no turning back.

We borrowed more than we ever intended. Cindee has devoted her life to learning and teaching how to live in new ways consistent with the future we ought to have. I have chosen to see this as a part of my whole life, which has always been about ministry that encourages others toward God’s future. There has been a lot of commitment involved.

And there is risk.

For those who dare to know their lives to be a spiritual journey, there is a compulsion to open their eyes to actually see the world around them. Once a person looks, one finds God present. God always calls us to live into the future. It is what Christians call the movement of the Holy Spirit—God calling to us from the future. But allowing oneself to truly take a look means accepting the need to risk. An authentic spiritual life requires us to become willing to give up what is comfortable and familiar and believe it is worth it to live for what must be in the future.

Comments

  1. CindeeJune 10, 2011 at 2:26 PM

    A short version. If any of you have time, I'll tell the long version! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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