I’m almost confident enough to call myself handy.
I won’t touch electrical and plumbing makes me cuss too much, though I’ll give it the occasional college try. But when it comes to many other DIY home projects, I feel good about what I can accomplish.
Besides the money I’ve saved over the years, there’s a certain pride I carry with me as I walk through my home.
I did that… and that… I’ll remind myself, internally grinning from ear to ear.
Whether it be the complete renovation of a bathroom or the craftsmanship of an outdoor table, it’s through projects like this where my house evolves into my HOME.
You see, houses own space. Homes maximize it for the flourishing of their guests.
Houses need to appear to be in perfect working order. Homes embrace their dings and scratches. Homes say this brings out their true character.
Houses are built with cookie-cutter designs. Homes are built through the messiness of life and relationships, for which there are no blueprints.
Houses are measured by codes and square footage, but homes by the culture cultivated within them and the fruit that it bears.
Houses are defined by their foundation and its longevity. Homes appreciate the foundation and its longevity but are defined by the activities that happen within them.
CHURCH: What do we say?
I understand, and agree with, the theological belief that The Church is not a building, but its people.
I also believe—for our faith communities that own church buildings—the greatest reflection of our theology is how we use the resources God has entrusted us with, MOST NOTABLY OUR SPACE.
How will we use it?
We don’t need more space.
We don’t need more resources.
We need more dreamers.
People with the courageous audacity to see their empty acreage given to entrepreneurial immigrant farmers. People with the brave imagination to see those old fellowship halls converted into social incubators and those big kitchens, once fit for the weekly potluck, to transform into commercial kitchens for food founders. Education wings evolving into affordable housing, and our sanctuaries—oh, our sanctuaries—can we become more flexible to allow in and welcome the artist, the storyteller, the poet, the musician?
Whether the artist, the storyteller, the poet, the musician perfectly agrees with us is missing the point. Home is the point, friends, with harmony its sweet music, each bringing our best for ourselves and each other.
Houses are everywhere; let’s keep committing ourselves to the work of building homes.
For you and me and everyone in between.
With Hope,
