Brent & Rosemary
We received approval to purchase a home when we were in our mid-fifties. Many banks would not give us approval. One manager at Kiwibank said he would consider us for a loan if we stopped tithing. Finally a manager at the Credit Union approved us via email on the strength of Rosemary having saved there for twenty years.
The home we bought we had first rented from Rosemary's friend while she taught missionaries' children in China. Rosemary's friend then sold the house to overseas buyers who were happy for us to stay. During this time I was completing study to nurse.
In 2014 they asked if we would like to buy the house. They had previously commented that we had looked after the house "as if it were your own home". The overseas buyers were Christians. We were so thankful to them for their generosity. No real estate agent's fees, no inflated price at auction: God's grace. The Liberty Trust loan in 2018 was early and took the load off me as the sole breadwinner Rosemary struggling with health issues.
Later we gave our savings to help pay for my father's medical bills. Liberty Trust's Kerryanne wrote to us saying we were entitled to a rebate. I believed this was a blessing for giving sacrificially for Dad and like the Liberty Trust loan a further lightening of our load.
The scripture which carried us through is I Samuel 7:12: Hitherto hath the LORD helped us, Eben-ezer. We always look to Christ as the Source and The Cross as the means through which we receive all benefits and all grace. We therefore rest in His finished work nothing of our own efforts. House blessing aside - don't forget - we remain pilgrims on earth with a home in Glory!
Brent and Rosemary Walsh.
28 June 2021