There's No Place Like Home

From the Archives: This was originally published here on Candyceland 9 years ago today. 😀

I was recently asked to share the story of how Steve and I came to plant the church in Exeter. It actually all started with two Mary Engelbreit tins...

We initially moved to New Hampshire in 1989 to be a part of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashua. We loved this state, and traveled around quite a bit on various field trips. We came out to the Seacoast area often, and one time stopped in Exeter. We wandered around its quaint downtown area. I fell in love with one shop in particular - I think it was called Lilacs and Lace. It was a specialty shop that was very "girlish" and sold Mary Engelbreit products. I purchased the two tins pictured here. The day we visited, the owner was hosting a "tea party" for a mom and her girls on a raised platform in the back of the store. When we came back outside, and were gazing at the lovely gazebo in the middle of the street, I asked Steve: "Wouldn't it be great to someday live in a town like this?"

Years later, Steve finished seminary. We started to pray about where God would have us serve Him. We investigated several options, including planting churches in Salem, NH, and Hanover, NH (home of Dartmouth College). There was also an opening at Magee Presbyterian Church in Magee, Mississippi! I am NOT making this up! But we decided ultimately that since we loved New Hampshire, and there were only a few PCA churches in the state, the wisest course would be to stay and start another one. But where, specifically?

Then I remembered the lovely town of Exeter that we had visited years earlier. Being the county seat at the time, it was a great location geographically for a new church. We moved here in 1994 to begin Exeter Presbyterian Church. Soon thereafter I headed downtown to find Lilacs and Lace, but alas, it was gone. I was so disappointed. I wanted to have tea parties there with my daughters and buy more Mary Engelbreit stuff. *sniff sniff*

Fast forward 4 or 5 years. We were having a wonderful dinner with some dear saints who had recently become members of Exeter Presbyterian. They asked how we decided to plant the church in Exeter. I told the same story as I've just recorded here - about the great store with the tins and the tea party. Leila and Ted were amazed. The store had been owned by Leila! It was only in operation for a year or so, and they never really understood why God called them to start this store and then have them close it down so soon after. Leila cried, and said that "...if the only reason for the store was to lure you here to Exeter to start the church, then that is good enough for me!"

So there you have proof that "...God works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." A month from today we will celebrate being in Exeter for fifteen years (now 24 years)! Through a lovely store and two small tins, God somehow directed us to the place where we were apparently meant to be!