The house I live in was built in 1906. It has over 100 years of history and stories. I don’t know much about who built the house, who lived in the house before the 1990s, or why they chose to build a stone wall along the north side of the house.However, what I do know about the house makes me love it even more.
The house is located on the north side of town, and area traditionally known for rough neighborhoods and beautiful, old homes fallen into disrepair. Within the last decade, the north side of town has experienced a renaissance of sorts. Questionable structures featuring peeling paint and living room furniture in the front yard were purchased by entrepreneurs who saw potential in the fixer-uppers, restored the homes, and sold them for a profit.
A few years ago, the owner of the house I live in fell into financial trouble and faced repossession. In a fit of anger, he threw a bomb onto the front porch leaving the house bordering on unlivable.
Several months later, a pair of godly middle-aged newlyweds were looking for a project and saw potential in the house. They spent hours, weeks, and months painstakingly restoring the house, installing new wood floors, replacing the crown molding, resurfacing the claw-foot tub, and reinstating the structural integrity of the home. After investing time, sweat, and energy into the house, it even won the Downtown Springfield Beautification Award for 2006.
As they finished, they felt God prompting them that they were to sell the house that they’d come to love and move away to pursue full-time ministry, and my roommate bought the house.
Three of us live in the house now. We frequently entertain, hosting birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, and prayer meetings. It’s not a big or fancy house, and it’s not full of expensive things, but we’ve made so many wonderful memories in the house and it’s full of laughter and activity, which make it a home with lots of character.
Isaiah 61:3,4 (NIV) says “[I will] bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated…”
I love the house because it’s such a great illustration of what God does.He takes things that have been cast aside, things that are past their prime, things that seem beyond repair, and He lovingly picks them up, dusts them off, restores the broken things, and gives new life.