Apartment Hunting: Finding a New Home While Learning to Trust God Again

What started as an apartment search became a lesson in letting go, trusting God, and learning to trust myself again.

Part of the reason I was so reluctant about this move was because I love my Atlanta apartment.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know how much I used to pray and talk about getting my high rise apartment in a major city. It’s crazy because the apartment I’m in now is in the same neighborhood where I used to go to Starbucks during college and dream about living.

I would always say, “I want all the windows. I want a corner unit.” I didn’t know how quickly I would get to it, but God truly blew my mind.

My apartment was a dream come true. An answered prayer. And honestly, letting go of it was one of the hardest parts of this entire move.

But I think that’s exactly why God made me do it.

God has a way of checking us when we subconsciously make idols out of the things He’s blessed us with. I never want to be the person who loves the gift more than the Giver.

I held on so tightly because I didn’t truly believe God could bless me with more. And that revealed something to me: my belief was limited. My trust was limited.

I could say I trusted God, but letting go of something I loved forced me to actually live like I trusted Him.

It’s interesting how we can think we’re so committed to living for God while ignoring the ways we’ve turned His blessings into things we’re afraid to release.

After releasing the hold my Atlanta apartment had on me, I had to trust God with more than just my words. I had to start with my actions.

Before I accepted the job, I was in Detroit picking up my dog from my mom, and I told myself I was just going to look at apartments and see what was out there.

I already knew my new place probably wouldn’t be exactly like my Atlanta apartment. Detroit has high rises, but they aren’t all as updated as what I was used to in Atlanta, especially when it came to the floor to ceiling windows I loved.

So the first step was figuring out where I actually wanted to live.

I knew I wanted a city feel, and walkability was a top priority.

I am a professional dilly dallier. I love waking up and being a tourist in my own city. I want to walk outside, grab coffee, go to a restaurant, find a new workout class, run an errand, and feel like there’s something to explore around me.

My Atlanta apartment was in Midtown, next to Georgia Tech. I could walk to the grocery store, restaurants, coffee shops, parks, workout classes, you name it.

I knew moving to Detroit would already be a stretch in some ways, and I didn’t want to lose one of the things I loved most about where I lived.

Apartment hunting at 24 and apartment hunting at 29 are two completely different experiences.

At 24, I just wanted a mid rise with windows in a city that was walkable.

Now, I value so much more.

I needed a place that was in a safe and secure building, had a charger for my car, had lots of natural light, gave me things to explore around me, and still was a high rise that I loved.

The amenities needed to be up to par too, especially the gym and common areas.

Since I was downsizing from a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment, I wanted an open space. I also wanted a building with enough common areas that I wouldn’t feel like I had to spend all of my time inside my apartment.

Basically, I wanted to downsize without feeling like I was downgrading.

And that was not easy.

I looked at so many apartments in Detroit and the surrounding areas. Even my family was looking at places and sending them to me to see what I liked.

I wanted modern, but not tiny. A high rise, but still a city feel. Something that felt like me.

Luckily, Detroit is on the come up, so there are a lot of new places being built. The problem I ran into was comparing everything to my current place.

Toward the end, I was torn between two new places. One gave me more space and was a little more expensive, but it was out in the suburbs and closer to my parents. The other one felt more luxurious and more like the lifestyle I wanted, but I was giving up the balcony I had in Atlanta and there wasn’t free guest parking.

Of course, I did what I always do when I have to make a decision: I overthought it. I made the pros and cons list. I asked everybody else what they thought. I dragged my feet. 

But ultimately, I had to make the decision that best fit me. Not just where I currently was, but the version of me I was evolving into.

I couldn’t let the people around me make the decision about where I lived just because I wanted them to.

One thing I’ve learned is that it’s easier to pay for the things you genuinely like. I don’t mind paying my car note because I love my car. And paying rent doesn’t feel as bad when you genuinely love where you live.

Looking back, I definitely feel like I made the right decision. Which is funny because I consider myself the worst decision maker ever, I’m working on that though. 

I overthink. I ask everybody else their opinion. I second guess myself. I drag my feet. But this process has been teaching me something I didn’t realize I needed to learn: how to trust myself again.

After a season of losing my confidence and my sense of self trust, every decision, big or small, is helping me get to know myself and my own voice a little better. And of course, God is included in all of it.

I’m learning that trusting God doesn’t mean I have to be afraid to make a decision. He gives us thoughts and desires, wisdom and discernment, but it’s still up to us to move the needle.

Sometimes faith looks like releasing something you prayed for.

Sometimes it looks like choosing the apartment.

Sometimes it looks like making the decision without asking ten other people what they think.

And sometimes it looks like trusting that even if you make the “wrong” choice, God is still big enough to redirect you.

I say all of this to say: your life is yours. You have to live it.

So make decisions that actually suit you. Not what looks best to everyone else. Not what keeps everyone around you comfortable. Not what makes the most sense on paper.

What fits the life you’re becoming?

Maybe you’re in a season like this too.

Maybe there’s something in your life that you prayed for, waited for, worked hard for, and finally got, and now God is asking you to release it.

Maybe it’s a relationship. A job. A city. A version of yourself. A plan you were sure your life was supposed to follow.

And maybe the hardest part isn’t letting go because you don’t want something new. It’s letting go because you’re scared the next thing won’t be as good as what you already have.

That’s where I’ve been.

Learning that just because something was an answered prayer doesn’t mean it’s meant to be my forever. Learning that God can give you something beautiful and still ask you to trust Him enough to leave it.

So if you’re in a season of making decisions, starting over, or releasing something you thought you’d have forever, I hope you give yourself permission to trust the process.

You don’t have to know exactly what’s next. You just have to trust that what’s next doesn’t have to look like what came before.

Because this apartment search ended up being about so much more than finding somewhere to live.

It was another lesson in letting go, trusting God, trusting myself, and believing that the next chapter doesn’t have to look like the last one to be good.

Maybe that’s the real lesson of moving. Sometimes you have to leave the place you prayed for to make room for the person you’re becoming.