Bigger Than A House

It’s finally official – we now own our home in West Granby, CT! It took a while.

Our story began ten years ago, when Kelvin was about to “retire” from a fulltime pastorate in Kirkville, NY. We wanted to live near our daughter and family in West Hartford, but we couldn’t find a house.

Then Copper Hill UM Church in East Granby, CT needed a pastor and invited Kelvin to fill the part-time position. Our new home would be the parsonage in nearby West Granby.

Eight Simsbury Road was just off Route 20, which buzzed with commuter traffic weekdays. But the trees around us blocked most of the sound. In the early evening quiet, we were surrounded with birdsongs in the woods and crickets in the starlight.

Kelvin began hacking down the poison ivy growing around the house. He turned a fenced-in area into a garden brimming with strawberries and vegetables, and a custom-built rose arbor gate. Flower gardens appeared along the driveway, and over the years, his daylilies grew everywhere – more than 50 different varieties!  A tall set of swings for the grandkids graced the lower lawn, also the site of croquet games and mountains of fall leaves to dive into. We took them down the road to throw stones in the creek and ventured into the woods where endless trails awaited (including some bears).

This was the perfect house for us. We each had our own office! Mine was “The Music Room,” with my 100-year-old upright piano for piano lessons and recording “studio” for choir and online instrumental arrangements. Kelvin’s office was smaller but cozy, where, surrounded by bookshelves, he prepared many a sermon and wrote his blog.  With three bedrooms upstairs, the guestroom became my “prayer room,” where I spent many hours in phone prayer groups and morning quiet meditation times. The sewing room/exercise room was also my spot to do daily Bible reading on the treadmill.

Downstairs, the Family Room was a great spot for the puzzle/project table, which doubled as a drawing table for the grandkids. The large-screen TV was great for watching “Super Book” Bible stories with the kids and “The Chosen” TV series with my friends.

The dining room/kitchen, had a wall of windows that looked out on the flower beds and bird feeders. At suppertime in the summer, we’d watch the hummingbirds fight over the feeder hanging by the windows. Our long dining room table was the setting for many family dinners and suppers with friends.

Kelvin’s big event came at Christmastime, when he claimed the window end of our living room for his amazing train village. Friends and neighbors came every year to our Open House. They could watch three separate trains run their courses through tunnels, farm country, and the village square, ending at the fire station where the engine emerged with clanging bells and barking dogs. The village skating rink (my favorite) brought the sounds of a skaters’ waltz and children laughing.

It was an older house with New England charm and wood floors. A new roof was added the year we moved in, thanks to the West Granby UM Church. Later, after hailstorm damage, God provided new siding and windows paid for by insurance!

So, as retirement from Copper Hill approached, it would be hard to say goodbye to this house. It had a history. It had been a big part of our busy lives over the years.

We began to get rid of extra furniture and look for another house. Where could we find a countryside place with room for a garden and trails to hike with the grandkids? What about space for my piano and Kelvin’s train village pieces? We would have to leave behind the rose arbor and all those daylilies. After months of searching, we found the market prices had gone almost out of range for our budget. Still, we believed that God had a place for us.

Then in the late spring, our parsonage came up for sale. Could we possibly afford it? Many friends and family members began to pray that negotiations would work in our favor. The bank was ready to approve our loan, but more time was needed to settle on a price. We finally came to an agreement with the seller, but the deed information for the property (which dated back to the 1800s) was inadequate. Our proposed fall closing date came and went.

At our church’s holiday bazaar, I found a little wall hanging that simply said, “Believe.” I hung it on a kitchen cupboard to remind us that God had a place for us. Friends and family kept praying. We weren’t really worried, because we knew God had always taken care of us. He had a place for us. Not to worry.

In the winter a surveyor came to re-survey our property. Surely our closing was near. But not. Then just before Easter, we found out Kelvin was to be retired in June. Our loan would need to be totally reevaluated. Would the bank even give us a loan on retirement pay? Even worse, interest rates were rising. Maybe this wasn’t the house for us after all.

“Believe.” There on the kitchen cupboard it still hung. Faithful prayer warriors continued praying.

Then, “miraculously,” the bank approved the loan—and here’s the kicker—with the original interest rate! How kind of them! How good of God! More papers signed. More waiting for the seller’s response. “Believe.” A new closing date was set. Would this one slip by too? Spring had come again. A year later.

May 19 – our closing date came. On that morning, I just “happened” to read in my Bible: “Jesus…was faithful to the one who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself (Hebrews 3:2,3). While getting the house was a big thing for us, learning to honor Jesus and have faith in Him was even more important.

We signed a stack of papers. The house was…IS ours! Thanks be to God!

It has been a long journey of waiting, trusting God, and believing He would take care of us. And He has! We are also grateful for the prayers of friends and family who kept telling us, “We’re still praying.” They walked with us on the journey, and they were able to share in our joy!

So whatever the journey you’re on now, God has a plan for you. Just “BELIEVE.”