Spending Our First Night at the Parsonage

When we came to the Mount Airy Charge in July of 2007, the former pastor was in the process of moving out of the parsonage. He had a load of stuff to move and it was taking him a longer time since they had to thin their belongings because they were moving to an assisted living facility with less space. We live an hour away and have our own home, so I wasn't in any rush to have him out so I could move in. After he had moved we found that the parsonage needed some work before it could be used again. Again, having our own home I encouraged the churches to take their time and do things as time and finances allowed. They have done an excellent job getting the inside of the house ready.
All the inside walls have freshly painted. They sanded and refinished the hard wood floors. The floors seem to glow and expand the room. The wood is so warm looking.
They also replaced the floors in both the kitchen/dining space and in the bathrooms. The parsonage has 1 1/2 baths, the 1/2 bath is off the master bedroom. There are 2 bedrooms, with a third room that could be a bedroom or a study.
They also replaced the bathroom fixtures and retiled them, too.

The range and oven are new. I made cinnamon rolls in the oven Sunday morning. That new coffee pot was donated with me in mind. It is a 14 cup capacity and we can set the timer so its ready for me on Sunday morning.
The refrigerator is new and a new microwave was donated , too.
The living room has a sofa and love seat, with glass top end tables and coffee table. It looks sparse right now but as we move books, pictures, and nick-knacks in it will get a homier feel. That's a gas log fireplace for those cold winter nights.

This is our dining space. There is a sixth chair, but its in the midst of repair. All the windows in the house, except for a few in the kitchen, have new blinds on them. We're working on the curtains. This past Saturday night, we spent our first night at the parsonage. Joanne went to bed before I did and when I went to turn out the lights I looked out on the carport and could not see the car 4 feet away. Now that's what I call dark. Where we live in Lynchburg there are railroad tracks behind the houses across the street. We're accustomed to the sound and actually don't even notice it anymore. It was so quiet at the parsonage that even the slight creaks and pops were waking Joanne during the night. Imagine having to get used to quiet, nice thought.
Now that the parsonage is functional, we plan to start having Bible studies there. I had wanted to have them there so that it would be a "Charge" thing and not a "Church" thing. I didn't want anyone to feel like the Bible was the other church's study and not for them. I also wanted the facility to be used as much as possible for the churches.

In July we're looking to have an open house/cookout at the parsonage. While there have been a multitude of church members who have worked on the parsonage, there are still some who haven't stepped inside in a decade. It just opens all kinds of fellowship possibilities. This is going to be fun!