Scripture Challenge 2010: Abide in Me

I have lived in three houses in three states in the past five years. That's quite a feat for a woman who resisted change for the first 37 years of her life, living in the same small town where she was born.

But I have learned SO MUCH in these past five years that I would have never learned if I had not opened myself up to this experience.



For starters, I learned that change can become addictive. I have found that I become a little bit antsy if I stay in one place for too long. I have been bitten by the WANDERLUST!

The other night, my husband told me about a job posting for a position in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I shocked Ed and myself by saying "You should consider it!' What? Am I crazy? Uproot our children, pack up stuff, put a house on the market and look for another house AGAIN?! Just when I've found a church to call home. Just when I've found a job and a sliver of a social life? But here's the thing...


Newsflash!

Change is a constant.

You can fight it, or you can embrace it.

Here's another thing I've learned. I love houses. I love real estate. I love the thrill of the hunt, the search for perfect towns and perfect schools and perfect libraries. My grass may be fine here, but it could be a lot greener over there!


I've found that I love to stitch houses and stamp them, too. I like that a house can be a little representation of your personality...like a really big canvas for you to paint your self-portrait upon.

I even love to shop for houses online and watch other people shop for houses on television.

This is the most surprising thing I've learned about houses:


If a tornado came and swept everything that we owned away, I wouldn't miss it.

No thing is irreplaceable.

And this is why:

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves."
Psalm 127: 1-2

Everything else is stuff. This is why my husband and I have been very deliberate about purging the stuff from our lives the past five years. We know first-hand that if you don't have to pack it, then you don't have to unpack it, either!


We know that if it has stayed in storage for years, you probably don't need it.

We know that if we open our grasp to stuff, we can pass it on to be a blessing to someone else.

We know that stuff accumulation is not a path to happiness or sustainable living.

We know that there is only one place where we ever want to live...and that is in

Christ Jesus our LORD!

We want our permanent residence to be in Him.

The LORD is...

...the comfy chair I rest in....

...the warm bed I sleep in...

...the table I eat at...

...the hot tub I soak in...

...the coffee cup I sip from.

Abide in Him, and He abides in me. The only house I will ever need.