Maurice and Iris Edwards are Western North Carolina natives—Maurice was born and raised in Barnardsville and Iris in Weaverville.  Their ties to GracePoint go back to 1991, when they joined Woodland Hills Baptist Church.  As members they were active and engaged.  A highlight of those times was when their son, Andy, at the age of eleven, made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized.

 

A job assignment required Maurice and the Edwards family to relocate to upstate South Carolina in 2001.  Maurice grew in his profession, and he and his family grew spiritually at Duncan First Baptist and later First Baptist Spartanburg.  

 

After moving away, the Edwards family regularly returned to Weaverville to visit and spend time with Maurice's mother, Edith Arrowood.  Concerned for her care in her later years as a widow, Maurice and Iris prayed about making changes to their South Carolina home to allow Edith to move in with them.  But this prayer led to God's provision of a better plan: Maurice and Iris moving back to the Arrowood family home, with Edith, in Weaverville.  

 

So, after 19 years in South Carolina, God superintended what Maurice and Iris consider a miraculous move back to Weaverville.  And when examining the details and looking at how they dovetailed so perfectly, one has to agree.  Even delays in renovations that at first seemed to be frustrations, turned out to be blessings.  The delays allowed other work to be completed that would have been almost impossible to do if the renovations were completed as originally scheduled.  The Edwards' were reminded of Proverbs 16:9, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

 

Maurice and Iris have made notes about the many ways God directed activities and events to bring about a smooth move:  

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• A former South Carolina neighbor had become a high-profile, successful Realtor, and the Edwards brought her on to handle the sale of their home.  Only a God who knows the future could have brought these people together years ahead of time.

• While typical real estate transactions involve complications, delays, surprises and contingencies, God orchestrated a trouble-free sale.  The Edwards home in South Carolina was under contract within days of the first showing, and it closed without any complications.

• Another neighbor was regularly available to lend a helping hand in the move and help with maintaining security over an empty home.

• Maurice didn't have to change employers; his current employer graciously allowed him to continue with the company from his new location.

• The Lord provided financial blessings to allow Iris to care for Edith without having to work outside the home.  

 

“The way that everything took place so smoothly—including the fact that it was done during that first crazy year of the COVID-19 pandemic—we know that God was intimately involved.  We made decisions prayerfully and we felt His leadership all the way,” Iris noted.

 

And Maurice is quick to add, “An important blessing in our move back to Weaverville was the Lord leading us to GracePoint.  Iris and I both know that a richer relationship with Christ requires more than just attending an 11 am worship service.  So, we began attending the Hensley small group and immediately felt a part of the family with the group members.  The prayers, the praises, the personal thoughts shared from the heart have really bound us together.”