The Heart of the Home

Our small town offers all the necessities for living, without the endless and unnecessary options of a large city. We have a bank, post office, small grocery, a library, a fire station, two gas stations, a ball field, several church options, and two large brick buildings that serve as a school system for kindergarten through 12th grade. All of these are conveniently located on the main road connecting well-known Owego with well-known Ithaca. It is not coincidence that they are all on the main drag, rather, that is what EVERYTHING centers around. The majority of houses rest on the shoulders of the road. Only two small back roads on either side connect to make small stubby “blocks” and those, too, begin and end with the main road
Corynn and I walk the streets of this town nearly every day. When we have errands to do, we walk. If we don’t~ but it is a nice day, we may go to see the dam, or walk to the playground at the school. Though we walk so frequently, I am never in need of things to look at. The glass door of the grocery is decorated with a poster announcing the birth of a baby boy to one of the employee’s within. That same store, takes your groceries out to your car for you. When they see us walk by, even if we are on the other side of the street, they will wave and shout “Hello!”
One of the things that never ceases to fascinate me on our walks are the homes. Because our little town in sandwiched between Owego and Ithaca, many of the professors from Cornell, and other professionals who want to escape from city life and city taxes, retreat to Candor to live a blissfully “slow” life in the “country”. This results in the gloriousness of Main Street. The houses are massive. Many sport three or even four stories…some roof lines towering over church steeples! There are, in fact, several homes WITH steeples and/or Rupunzel towers included in the architecture of their homes. The power and solidity of these homes can be overwhelming. Each home has a certain aura of strength-as if nothing could penetrate the walls or enter if unwelcome. Though powerful, each one also holds a feminine flair, with dainty decorum and intricate detail…many with scrollwork or ornate _____________ There are countless houses who flaunt their wealth with the glow of reds and greens, blues and golds all joined together by a glue of lead-creating a balance of beauty and protection in windows and doors.
While I can certainly understand the gloriousness of living enveloped within such beauty, I often wonder how two people could ENJOY living in such LARGE homes. Wouldn’t they be more work than they are enjoyment? Why can’t families who NEED them (with many children-or in my case-hopes of many children) use homes like that? I sure would love it!
Every single house on “Excess Row” also contains something of a porch…most stretch the length of the house, some wrap around completely; even the most humble of porches offers many a seat to sit a spell. Porches are one of my very favorite features of a home. In the home I spent my teenage years, our wrap-around porch was a place of sheer enjoyment in all sorts of weather. It allowed me the privilege of sitting within the gray outdoors, feeling the wet air all around me as I enjoyed the light-filled rumbling skies of a storm and the beating of intense downpour as I read, comfortable and dry. The shade and openness of the porch gave me coolness on even the hottest sun-filled days. I hope beyond hope, that some day I have a huge wrap around porch that I can leisurely look out on my yard full of children as time passes without notice.

Up until this point, this post was written a few weeks ago. I never got around to finishing it-but if I had, it would have been brimming with my own personal dreams of a home and all the wonderful details of the home in my mind that I hope to someday have.

Now, here I am, finishing the post-but not in the way I had at first intended. A different perspective has given light to my dreams and desires.

Psalm 23. “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Pastor spoke briefly on Psalm 23 on Sunday. When he read this verse, however, it was like I was hearing it for the first time. It touched my heart in a different way and made me ponder its meaning and application.

It is every believer’s gift, to dwell in the house of the Lord. We are all unfit to be in His very presence, let alone fellowshipping with Him in His own home. It is both an encouragement and promise for the present and the future. To Paul, in prison-it is both a relief and sustenance. Being in the Lord’s presence, being a part of His family, is all that one needs to live. One does not need a large, fancy-shmancy house. (AH! Print this because it is hard for me to say!) One must not live on 100 acres to live, or even in their own home. Paul was in prison-and yet, he was HOME.
Solomon had great riches, and yet he called it Vanity of Vanities! Comforts of the body are only valuable when they serve to enable believers to live for God. Being close to the Lord is being Home.

And so, while it is very true (and there will probably be posts to come on this topic) that houses should be made attractive for the glory of God; you needn’t have a home that is stunning, a home that is large, a home on acreage, a home that you own free and clear… for the Lord invites us to dwell in His house FOREVER. All the days of our lives. Not our life after death life-but our lives this very moment. Twenty years ago. Twenty years from now. Into eternity.

And so-this two bedroom apartment that does not allow animals or ample room to garden, which doesn’t provide a garage for Matt to work with his hands or trees to fell or chores to do… This home that lacks privacy and requires self-sacrifice and patience-is still our HOME. It is filled with the presence of the Lord-in our thoughts. In our actions.

John Calvin, in his commentary on this passage says, “It is as if he (David) had said, ‘I do not live for the mere purpose of living, but rather to exercise myself in the fear and service of God, and to make progress daily in all the branches of true godliness.’”

It is our gift. Our inheritance. We dwell in the house of the Lord.