Ethics in Home Sales

It's 8am.  It's the deadline we set to hear back from the buyers.  Clearly we lost the offer.  And clearly I am a bit disheartened. 

My faith is still strong and I believe this wasn't the right opportunity, but for brief minutes I could see our new life laid out before us.  I am excited and eager to move into the next chapter.  I never thought this would be easy, but then when it became easy I really liked it that way! 

This offer was a learning opportunity for us.  It showed us what our house is worth in this market.  And it also showed us that we owe more on our home than it is worth and that is a very scary reality when you know that selling your house is standing in the way of doing what you dream to do. 

So I want you to weigh in on a very important subject for me.  I feel odd even asking this, and I know that the only thing that matters truly is what God has planned for us, but I would like some advice in the matter: Short Sales.  We owe a lot more than our house is worth on the market today.  Our only option is to apply for a short sale and the realtor seems to think with our situation we will qualify.  Then the bank will allow us to sell our home for less than it is worth and either forgive us the difference or offer some sort of pay out. 

Is this ethical?

Currently we can afford our mortgage with our current jobs.  However, if we were to leave our jobs to follow our new calling that would leave us very much unable to pay our mortgage.  Is ethical always what is right in God's eyes?  Do we follow Christ and ignore the worldly view?  What if it is the only way to get out of the house.

Of course it is not the only way.  I fully believe that it will happen somehow, some way.  I want to walk in faith but I'm not sure what our next steps should be.

And speaking of steps, Forbes and I have found an organization we are very interested in.  We have two meetings set up for the next coming weeks and I am eager to find out if it is a good fit for us.  We are passionate about serving the needs of people internationally and are searching for an organization that will allow us to do that.  To use our unique gifts and talents in a special way to serve God.  I can't wait to share more with you about it, but I really want to sit down to these meetings first and get a good feel for the organization before I say anything more. 

So with everything that is happening, maybe a raffle will be our answer!  How much are you willing to spend on a raffle ticket for a house?  $25? $100? $1000?