THE MOVE chapter 140

It was the next week that the couple with the troubled child caught me again in the hallway to tell me weird things had happened again Saturday night in their daughter’s room. I apologized that I had not contacted their daughter yet, but we had to move that coming week and were getting things together and making arrangements to get what we had out of storage to take to the house in Champlain Heights. The couple wanted to see this thing come to an end and “God had told them,” I could help.

I was still waiting for God to tell me. I was literately petrified. I knew one thing — I need my own life completely clean and pure before I ever tried. It was Della who believed that we should pursue whatever course lay ahead of us in dealing with the girl. But we still had to put it off. I had fears it may take longer than I expected.

We moved in on a Saturday and some of the guys from the youth group came along to help us. Since nearly every thing we owned fit in the family room kitchen and breakfast nook, we took everything downstairs in through the back patio door. Just figured there was more door way room. I don’t know who kept closing the door, but Jim Klassen walked into that door three times (as reported by his brother Dale). We had absolutely nothing to put in the living and dining rooms.

Shortly after moving in we have a gathering of young married couples in the house to show it off. We brought in chairs from the church and still fit 75 people in there. 

There were three bedrooms upstairs and one bath. The bedrooms were huge. The master bedroom fit over the family room and part of the garage.  Next to it was the bathroom and then bedroom #2. We placed Rhonda’s things there. She had a crib, and a dressing table — that was all. It was lost in that huge room. Rods room was over the dining room and part of the living room. With his toys, his room looked a little more like the right space. We were lost in our room as well. All the rooms were connected by the open balcony to the main floor.

There was grass in the front yard, but nothing had been done to the back yard. Didn’t matter. The kids loved to play in the dirt. We caught Rhonda having a snack of dirt one day. There was a planned sidewalk to be placed along the south side of the house to connect our street to the one behind us. It seems to me that back street was Boundary Road, but I could be wrong.

The house was absolutely beautiful, more than we ever expected and way more than we needed. We wanted to hold an open house for the church people to see the place. We figured they owned it and they should see what they own. After having the young couple over there was some jealousy over the house we were living in. Della and I had a hard time understanding that. These people owned their homes; we were little more than squatters. The board did not want an open house. That caused Della some grief as people came all the time to see the house. No one ever called ahead; they just showed up morning, afternoon and evening. She felt compelled to keep the house clean all the time, and hated the inconvenience of it all. It was hard work caring for that large house and two preschool children at the same time.

Sitting in front of the fireplace in the new to us home

      We eventually bought a dining room table and a used sofa and chair with the gift money from Saskatoon. Neither did much for filling the space. It looked better at Christmas when we had the fireplace decorated and a tree in the front window. It still looked like an empty concert hall.

      All in all we loved the place and did our best to take care of it. There were some small items left unfinished. I wanted to finish  it, but I am no carpenter and to match the rest of the house, it needed a skilled builder.

Rod seemed to always know when it was Saturday.
He would get up early, go down stairs, pull up
his little chair and watch cartoons.

Lee Tracy, Rodney, and Rhonda
on the back of the Dodge.