Our New Digs

You may remember me writing recently about our “other home.” See that tiny little cottage behind the plane?

Yes, that, my friends, is where we live.  We actually moved out there because it was way cheaper than our apartment in Oxford.  No, I’m not kidding.

This was the first grade-one listed manor, sort of the historical registry of homes in the US, that was granted permission to be turned into apartments.  At the time, there was no roof and the central parlor was used as a stable for pregnant sheep.

It was converted in the early seventies, and it has all the bad habits of an aging and mistake-riddled home–banging pipes, terrible plywood walls covering the old stone, man, they even chopped the biggest rooms in half lengthwise to make more apartments.  I’m not kidding.  Some of the parlors had ceilings thirty feet high, which means sure, the new rooms have fifteen foot ceilings, but the ceiling decorations are massive and hang like stalagmites over the beds.  Just silly stuff.

We live in what was originally the stable block.  It was completed in 1504, on foundations dating from a monastery erected around the year 800.  Our walls are three feet thick.  It’s just so cool.

I’ll conclude this post with a reply to one of my readers’ question. Her observation about God opening and closing doors is very timely for me and my wife as we continue our journey here at Oxford.

Linda writes:

I just finished reading Book of Dreams. Once I started reading I did not want to put it down. It made me think of your book The Presence (which I read a very long time ago), the way God moves in people’s lives, one door closes, so another can be opened, and the awesome power of prayer.  Your books always bring inspiration and renewed faith in God’s love and power to me.  I have learned that things happen in our lives that we don’t always understand, but are is all part of His plan for us.  We just have to trust and believe.  Thank you for helping me remember this.

 

Dear Linda,

Your beautiful note has made my day. Thank you so much for this heartfelt email on the power of prayer. I am honored that my story had this impact, and hope you have a wonderful and blessed day.  

Warmest personal regards,

Davis