single parenting

Richard Masoner (richardm@cd.com)
Wed, 21 Feb 1996 09:41:48 -0600 (CST)



I too am somebody who sympathizes with the plight of single parents.
Though it's not something I've experienced personally, I do know
several people who are in or have been in that very rough situation
and manage to hang on anyway.  Thus, I feel the church should do what
it can to help these folks out.

And there's the rub.  I own a house in Fort Worth which is currently
up for rent.  A pastor friend of mine has a single parent in his 
congregation with a teenage son who is looking for a place to live.

She's wanting a steep discount on the rent (hey, I own property, so
of course I have piles of cash around, right?), but it's definitely
not something I can afford: the house is empty right now because my
prior tenant was a similar experiment in social compassion -- the
couple broke the lease last month, and left the place as a totally 
uninhabitable shambles.  It's gonna cost me nearly $3000 to repair
the damage that's been done to the place :-( and I need somebody who
is able to pay the rent in order to recoup my losses, especially since
my savings were wiped out last year by (1) having a baby (2) an
unexpectantly *huge* tax bill and (3) my automobile accident last
fall.  My financial planning is such that I could have easily handled
one of these circumstance (such as having the baby ;-) ), gone with
any two of these with only minor discomfort, but all three in one year
pretty much wiped me out.  And now I'm hit with this fourth $3000
expense!!!  The Lord has always provided and I trust he always will,
but nonetheless some careful thinking is required on my part.

Anyway, pray that I make the right decision.  There is plenty of
less expensive housing in the Fort Worth area (I'm not talking slums,
either), which rent for about 70% of what I'm asking, so it's not
like she'd be out on the streets.  Thanks.

Richard