It wasn't all that long ago I was writing about how to cope with a family of four in an apartment that was under 600 square feet. Now I find myself sitting at a desk in a house more than twice that size, with enough room for two toilets and a guest room! What happened to us?

Two years ago now I was offered a spot preaching one Sunday at a church that had no pastor. They paid, we needed the money, how could I say no?

The church, I found out, was just my thing. Laid back. Great music. Down to earth people. The elderly and the young. A whole bunch of art nerds who were dying to talk about film. A hot debate over the most recent episode of The Great British Bake-off. Morning tea - with pie. I left saying over my shoulder "whoever gets this job will be lucky indeed!"

A month later I was interviewing for the position. A few months after that I was offered the job.

With being a pastor here came a house. It's hard to explain what a God-send that was: Jono and I had no idea what we were going to do after my graduate student housing ran out. Properties around our area don't exactly fall in our affordable price range. But here was a house! For us!

But it wasn't just any ol' house either. So many of the things we'd hoped for in a family home were in this house. Wood flooring? Check. Space to entertain? Check. For the past 5 years I had been taking lukewarm showers in our crummy apartment. The shower had great pressure, and the water was hot. Check! The kids had wanted a backyard. Check! And a garage? Check!  And Jono's most audacious request -  that our future home would have a water view - well, that photo above is of the pond across the road from our house!

There are things I need to do around here to make it more our home. Bits and bobs to organize, doors to paint, cupboards to sort out. But those things can come with time, right? That's why you guys are here, to travel with us along the way. Welcome to our parsonage! Now, let's see what we can make of it.