The Move
Over the years some people have implied or said that for us moving is easy. They assume that because moving goes with the role of an itinerant minister that somehow we are different. What it must have been like for ministers years ago I really can't imagine. Some moved every three years. Some sending their children away to school to stop disrupting their schooling, and having to make do with the furniture that was in the manse!!!!
We have thankfully only moved four times in ministry and that has felt a big thing every time. Okay we don't have to house hunt which is stressful, but it is "here’s the job here's the house". So now it's a fifth and hopefully final move (apart from the trip to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland).
Every move has been filled with a sense of the unknown, a bit of excitement and always a sense of “I wonder if we will make friends”. You worry particularly for your children often to the point you forget to acknowledge forgetting it's massive thing for you. Leaving behind the familiar. That includes the mundane things like doctors, dentist , shops, plumber, energy supplier, hairdresser etc.
Moving into a manse is of course different from most people. No choice in house. They have all been very different as have the gardens mostly north facing!!!
Our first manse we moved into having just married at first appeared fine when we visited. When we moved in and saw it empty we saw it in all its 'glory'. Bits of carpet stuck together in the front room. The cooker under a chimney that was not really sealed so bits would fall down into your cooking. Stewards fixing a gutter leak using an egg carton and curtains full of holes. You won't be surprised to read that we were to discover dry rot and for six months we had to leave. The whole downstairs was gutted. Doing so with an 18 month year old was not fun or easy. It quickly taught me about buildings from soffits and facias, to damp courses, floor boards, electrics, insulation etc. Most of all it taught me the importance of looking after the fabric and being a bit stroppy to get key things done.
So we arrived at move number 5 not knowing where we would be living. It has turned out we find ourselves in Banbury 15 minutes from one daughter and grandchild.
So in preparation to move, having gathered more and more possessions over the years as we filled large houses and stuff for the children, it was a major down sizing session we faced. Strange to think when we moved into our first manse all our possessions filled my parents garage and the removal men offered to put the car in the van to fill some space. In moving to Sheffield 24 years later the very large lorry was jam packed plus plants. Now we needed to seriously de clutter. So we spent months sorting every room, cellar included. Having sorted we did it again and again. Trips to the tip were numerous, items onto Gumtree or free cycle. So we watched as things collected had to go. Why do we collect so much through life? Especially in the light of Jesus wanting his followers to travel with as little baggage as possible.
So came the day when the home of fourteen years reverted to a house as our belongings found their way onto the lorry. I've always found it the same. Once the house is empty it becomes a shell again. It's very odd but it is part of the process of moving on. This time it was just the two of us left in the house with a bed and a few remaining items after a day of packing. Then the next day we journeyed to a new house that will become a home. The removal men were great, though a little stressed when they sought to load all our plants on the two lorries. Yes they needed an additional one, we had downsized but our garden plants ......'its like***********kew gardens' one said. So we arrived and quickly put up our bed. First lesson in moving always get your bed up before anything else as everything else can wait if need be.
So one by one we emptied boxes having put as much as we could in the garage that we might have space to unpack. Of course inspite of all that downsizing we probably will have to get rid of somethings, though my prayer desk and our pew, which we didn't have space for once we moved, have found a home with our daughter who lives near by.
As I write this nearly nine weeks have now passed by. Soffits, facias, gutters and downpipes have been replaced. The driveway has now been laid. The front garden has had a major makeover and awaits now the gravel to complete. We have planted using some of our plants from Sheffield. Next its the rather large back garden which we have cleared and sadly, but it was required , three trees taken down. So now I need to prepare the area for the greenhouse which arrives 10th August though thankfully there is a hard standing area already in place.
So one of the major things you worry about in life , moving, has happened and we are okay living in a strange land.
A pillar of fire by night
Comments
Post a Comment