A New House
By Shauna Leis
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains in ruins?”
“The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Haggai 1:4 and 2:9
About 3 years ago, Tony and I were blessed with our second child Grace. With two children, and most of our family living out of town, we were quickly running out of room in our tiny, little ranch-style home. We prayed and prayed about whether it was time to build a larger house that would actually accommodate more people. Our dream was to have a house that we could have small group Bible study in, relatives to spend the night whenever needed, room for our children to learn and grow, a neighborhood where Christian families abounded – in other words, a place that we could truly call home.
God answered all of those prayers and more. When we began that great adventure, we never dreamed of what he had in store for us. He paved the way for us to find the perfect lot and then build the house that would ultimately glorify him. We moved into the house when Grace was about nine months old and celebrated our Thanksgiving that year by giving thanks to a heavenly Father that provided so much more than we had ever dreamed. So many little details were overseen by Him to help us keep our sanity. Since then, we have welcomed in babysitters that now go to church with us, small group bible study groups that have found healing and restoration, neighbors that God has been showing us to reach out to, great Christian friends that ride the bus and attend school with Nathan (our first born), and we have finally found a Home that our family can live and love in for the rest of our lives.
Interestingly enough, during the exact same time that we were in the building phases of our home, our church started a capital campaign to build a new children’s wing and sanctuary for our growing church family. God quickly convinced us with the scripture above that we were to sacrifice in our daily lives to help with this campaign. At first, it was scary to think of so much money going out, and not near as much money coming in, but we were committed to following the plan that God had laid out for us. We knew that if all of this was God’s plan then he would be faithful to complete it.
Mark 6:47-48 says, “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on a rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” Everyone at church and in our home, knew that we would weather whatever storms might come our way, because God was our rock and foundation. We had dug way down deep during the building and placed our foundation upon Him, so that when the winds would blow, we would remain safe in him. And we can attest that storms have certainly come, to both “homes”, but God has been faithful to keep them standing and flourishing for Him. And so, we claim Joshua 24:15b, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Pray with me: Heavenly Father, we are so very thankful to you for the new “homes” that you bring our way, whether they are earthly homes or heavenly ones. You are always so faithful to us in all that you provide. Lord, help us to be good stewards with all that you provide to us, so that we can eventually return it back to you. Our homes only exist to glorify you and your name. As for us and our households, we will serve you gladly! In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.