Grace Realized

Most Christians know that grace is defined as undeserved favor. It means you get something you don’t deserve; you get something for nothing, essentially. It’s not “for nothing” if you consider what Jesus Christ had to suffer to purchase your grace, but there is nothing more you have to do. While I say most Christians know this intellectually, many still feel unworthy to receive it. That is the point: no one is “worthy,” or it wouldn’t be “grace.”

It often takes a physical demonstration to bring the truth of what grace means home to the recipient. I have such an experience to recount. My wife and I were comfortably retired, travelling the country in a large fifth-wheel RV. (See "Mounting Everest") We enjoyed being where it doesn’t snow in the winter and being back in beautiful Michigan for the summer. The fly in our ointment came as we discovered that our commitment to ministry in Michigan was being diluted by our being gone for six months every winter.

We believed that God was calling us to resettle in Michigan – to come off the road as it were. We had thought to retire in Montague, Michigan where we had been spending our summers in the RV. However, the ministry and church we were involved with is in Muskegon, twenty miles down the road. It happened that we were making that forty-mile round trip just about every day, sometimes in two vehicles. The gas costs were enormous.

Enter our pastor/realtor, Nick. We asked if there were any houses for sale in the neighborhood of the church. Our “dream house” would have to have four bedrooms because we wanted to establish a sober living home for women in transition from incarceration or drug addiction. Nick suggested that the house across from the church might be coming on the market, and he would ask the Lutheran church that owned it if they were interested in an offer.

After several months of investigation and negotiation, we were able to buy the house at a steep discount to the appraised value. We discovered that it not only had the necessary bedroom, but it also had a fireplace, basement workshop, three-stall garage and other hidden goodies we were ecstatic about.  Because we had not owned a house for almost five years, we were able to obtain a “first-time buyer” package that required virtually no money down. That suited us perfectly since we had minimal savings. Grace realized #1.

Having spent five years out of any house, we had divested ourselves of most of the accoutrements of a home. Another one of our pastors, Bill, does drywall part-time and he helped us repair some water damage that had occurred several years ago. The causes of the leaks were fixed, but the damage had been left unrepaired. Through generous friends’ donations of appliances and furniture and the low cost of buying at second-hand stores, we were able to furnish a 2,500 square foot house for $220. Grace realized #2-3.

The house had been built as a top-class home in 1948. Time had taken its toll, but the bones were solid. We made necessary upgrades, including installing a shower and mini kitchen in the area where our guests would live. The largest expense was replacing the original 1948 windows that had deteriorated beyond repair. This was accomplished with a no-money-down, no-interest, no payment for twelve months loan arrangement. Much of the remaining cost went onto no-interest credit cards. Grace realized #4.

Fast forward fourteen months and we were in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020. We had chosen to refinance the house and get some cash out of equity to pay for the windows before the interest was added to the loan. With the restrictions of the C-19 situation, the re-fi dragged on relentlessly toward the due date for the loan payment. A call to the company holding the window loan garnered a three-month extension of the no-interest period. Grace realized #5.

We closed a few days after the initial period of no interest but in plenty of time to save the thousands of dollars the accrued interest would have added. With the extra cash from the re-fi and the CARE benefits we were entitled to because of COVID 19, we were able to pay off almost all of the credit card debt accumulated in our remodeling, some overdue income taxes, and a subsequent surgery on my shoulder. Grace realized #6.

I saved the best for last. The required appraisal of the house for the re-fi revealed another move of the hand of God. During the fifteen months we had owned the house, the real estate market had changed drastically. The supply of houses for sale was far below the demand of buyers, so prices had risen dramatically. With the market change and our improvements to the house, the appraisal came in over 30% higher than our initial appraisal only months earlier. We effectively gained many thousands of equity dollars just for enjoying the blessing of God in the house He provided. Amazing grace #7 realized.

God has allowed us to bless others with the blessing He gave us through this sequence of events. I know He will continue to do so as long as we remain open to His leading. When the time comes to move on, the sale of the house will allow us to be completely debt-free with a substantial savings account to boot, a condition we could never have imagined less than two years ago.

I recount all this in the hope that someone will see, in our blessing, the potential of their own blessing. Or that someone will look back on their life and see the grace of God where they had not realized it before. I don’t see my wife and I as special, in some way “deserving” the blessing we have received, but there is one lesson to be learned. We would never have been a party to God’s good grace had we not submitted to His will for us.

We were not “ready” to stop travelling and buy a house when He called us to do so. We were enjoying retirement in every way, but we heard the voice of God asking us to set aside our pleasure for the sake of helping others. We did it, and here we stand, still missing the joys and freedom of the open road, but happy to be blessed ourselves in the act of blessing others. Long ago I learned a phrase I have used as a sign-off many times:

Blessed to be a blessing,

Clair