Abigail Denton

In July, we closed on our new-to-us house. Over our 11 years of marriage, Isaac and I have moved over and over.

We first moved into a two-story house on Laurel Street in Pennsylvania. Our first home as husband and wife. We lived there for almost two years.

Our next home was temporary. We were moving down to Florida in September and James was born in August. We packed up our home and moved in with my parents. The timing was from God because my delivery with James was not smooth. My parents provided a haven for me to start healing from that, physically and emotionally. Venard Road in Pennsylvania was our second home.

From there we moved to Florida. We originally moved into Isaac’s grandparents’ condo. A series of events led us to move out of there temporarily to a vacation rental while we waited to close on our first home. We went from Hole-In-One Circle Drive to Old Gladiolus Road. Full moves, all our stuff car load by car load.

Buying our first home, on Chandler Avenue was so special. We were young and saw the world through rose colored glasses. Isaac was working his first full time job as a pastor, I fulfilled my dream of having a baby and a home to care for. That house was everything we ever wanted. I got to decorate and create a home. I sewed curtains and rugs and thrifted furniture. I made wreathes for the front door and we started projects. We replaced flooring and painted cabinets. Our primary suite was the stuff of HGTV shows. It was the whole width of the house. We had a whole bedroom set, plus a couch and coffee table. We brought Lia home to that house, our second baby. I will always think fondly of that first house. It sheltered us through our first traumatic experience, our first real hard trial. Our home was the only safe place we had. It became my mission to welcome Isaac home into our own little respite. To create a space we could grieve and cry and just be.

Isaac resigned from his job and we put our beloved home on the market. We packed up and moved into an apartment on Winkler Ave while we waited to see what God had for us. We lived in that two bedroom apartment for about six months. We brought Adeline home from the hospital to that apartment. If you’ve been keeping track, we brought all three kids home to different houses. Two out of three being temporary places we were living. Three babies in three years to three different homes. Those six months were almost as hard as the year before. We lost everything; our income, our community, our friends. But one of the most important things remained: our home. Everywhere we moved we were still home. We hung curtains and bought pumpkins for the porch.

Isaac took a one year internship at a church in Rochester New York. In January, the coldest month on record, we moved our little family from south Florida to New York. We moved into a duplex on East Ridge Road. That home and church were a place of hope and healing. I was able to begin processing what happened and found a safe community to restore my soul. God was so gracious that year and I’m honestly not sure where I’d be today without it.

After that year, we moved out into the Western New York countryside. We bought our second home and embraced a new lifestyle. Our home on Block Road was my first experience living in the country. We only had one neighbor and were surrounded by fields and woods. We got chickens, had a dog, and some cats. We fostered a little boy for almost a year. All three kids started school from that house. We had birthday parties and holidays. Family came to visit, we made friends, we trained for races. We were there for almost five years and we felt so grounded and stable.

Over the years 2019 and 2020 we sensed God was calling us into a new chapter. We could both feel our time was coming to an end in Western New York. God was stirring something new in our hearts. It was scary and sad and hard but so so good. We were reading for a new task from God. So we put our house on the market and started packing. God opened doors and moved our little family to the capital district of New York. We were moving to Saratoga Springs.

We moved into a house on Prospect Drive, Saratoga Springs. We moved into this home in the middle of the pandemic. We moved in November and hunkered down for the winter. To me, it felt like a hibernation. I needed to be still. Some things had happened to me and I realized I had built my identity on shaky ground. I forgot God loved me. This home gave me a safe and quiet space to take everything out of my world and just be. Jut be a child of God. To focus on my husband and my kids. To remind my heart that I have value and worth–only because Jesus loves me. He died for me and cherishes me. The end. Not my service or well behaved kids or a pretty house. Nothing makes me more or less loved by God. He calls me loved and worthy and nothing anyone says will ever change that.

Which brings us to July. July 28, 2021 we closed on our third house. A house we prayed for and God graciously and generously gave us. In August we moved in and started a new chapter. A new home. A place of safety, but more so bravery. I want and pray that this home will be a space God uses to grow us and the people who enter. I pray this home gives us a season of flourishing and being grounded in God’s love. We’re moving into a home on Pleasant Drive and we’re filling with hope and dreams and security. God has good in store and He is good. Home has always been a safe place for me, and this home will be no different. Safe and brave and secure. That’s what Pleasant means to me.