This House Is Not My Home

 

On a Sunday morning in 1988, Dad went to bush hog for some neighbors up the road while Mom, Amy, and I went to church. We hadn't been there too long because Sunday School was still in session. A policeman came through the front door and asked for Wanda Thomas.  It's a good thing Mom had a good reputation in town or everyone would have wondered what kind of trouble she was in.  When he found her, he said, "Your house is on fire!".  

We lived seven miles out of town on a gravel road.  So, you can imagine there wasn't much left to it by the time we got there. Dad was still on the tractor without a clue as to what was going on. Mom had to stop and flag him down on her way to the house.  Since there wasn't much excitement in the small town of Gloster, following the fire truck to see where it goes was the thing to do.  There were so many people parked all over our yard, we could hardly pull in ourselves.  

I've never been a fan of dresses, but back then girls didn't wear pants to church. Especially not to the small Assembly of God that we attended. I remember leaning against the front of Rusty's car and watching everything my family owned turn to nothing more than smoke and ashes. I looked down at the long, full, tan dress I was wearing and said, "Everything is gone and all I have to wear is this stupid dress!"

The insurance company settled and Dad got busy building a new house at the same location. It was a little bigger and it was nicer, but I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone. Losing a house to a fire feels like losing a family member. You become attached to it. So many memories are gone and you don't realize just how many things you have accumulated through the years until you don't have them anymore.  

Sometimes, it's just when you think you're settled and getting comfortable when things can change. Twice, Rusty and I have had to sell and leave our houses, not because we wanted to, but because we had to. One was a new house that we built ourselves along with much help from my Dad and others that was designed just as we wanted. The other was one that we purchased and completely remodeled to our liking. Neither time did we want to leave them, but due to plant closures and no comparable jobs nearby, we were forced to move. 

What if there were a home that we never had to leave or worry about being destroyed? Thankfully, for Christians there is.  The book of John tells of the place that God is preparing for us and 2 Corinthians 5 says that it is an eternal heavenly dwelling that cannot be destroyed.  It's a great comfort to know that if we have surrendered our lives to Christ, we'll live forever in heaven with Him in a home that is free of debt and won't need constant repairs.  

Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  -John 14:1-3

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  -2 Corinthians 5:1

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