Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. – 2 Chronicles 7:15-16

So this happened! Today, after several months of preparation and a few weeks of really back-breaking hard work, our Wake Forest home hit the market, going live with one click of John Akerman’s official realtor mouse.

Elmwood Court is just the fourth house we have ever owned and – like all the “Maul-Hall” predecessors – it has its own special personality. Actually, and I know this is true for everyone who owns a home, it became engrafted with our personality.

We removed the non-functional shutters, we replaced the roof, we completely reconfigured and rebuilt both the kitchen and the primary bath, we landscaped… and of course we did the more routine and less glamorous maintenance initiatives such as tear out and replace/u[grade the HVAC system, water heater etc.

But most importantly Rebekah and I saturated this home with love, with faith, with our children and grandchildren, with creativity, with invention, with – dare I say – the refreshing spirit and grace of the living God.

And we know without a doubt that, as we officially leave Wake Forest and transfer our address an hour east to Tarboro, this community is absolutely not the same as it was in 2013.

“To make a difference”

Rebekah and I do not have a lot of specific dreams and ambitions on our “bucket list” but one key item is this (and it has been front and center on our hearts and intentions in every place we ever lived): “That any town we live in will be a different place because we lived there.”

I know that sounds kind of ambitious – and possibly presumptuous. But it is something we have both believed since the day we were married. “We want to make a difference,” we said. “We want to live places and know that we had an impact. Not just on the church, but on the community where our ministry is planted.”

So off we go. Wake Forest was an amazing experience. But don’t put up a plaque! Instead, carry the Good News message of light and love and grace and joy with such authentic belief that others will be compelled to stop and wonder… and then act.

Because, “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). – DEREK