Lakehousians,
Everything that has been happening has made me think about 'home' in a real way. Home isn't necessarily the house we live in and yet the Lake House is our home. Sometimes things feel like home or taste like home or smell like home. What is home then? It’s a question I've been thinking about all weekend.
Does home have to do with feeling safe?
What about being comfortable?
Our house is very uncomfortable in that we don't use a/c, there are ten of us here and its chaotic and dirty most of the time. But Home is that way for me now. I sometimes wonder, if a visitor from haiti or El Salvador were travelling in tampa, would our house feel more like home to him than other places he may visit here. And safe? Our home has felons crashing on the couch and thieves often trying to sneak into the yard but I just don't think it would be home if there weren’t.
Home is my community. Also, many people have joined our family and many have been called or just decided to go elsewhere. They are still family but they are not at home anymore. The most stable thing about our house and community are our values. All of the people may (and often do) change and the entire house may decay but the values are forever. They are a gift. It has really hit me that home is where we commit to Jesus and each other, home is where we share and give, home is where we experiment and build, home is where we welcome guests, home is where we fight and forgive, home is where we grow watermelons and okra, home is where we have a ton of fun and also take things seriously, home is where we, a family united by Jesus, are doing everything we know to do to see his kingdom come. I am a sojourner and a stranger with you, citizens of heaven. Our home is in Jesus and therefore we can be at home wherever he is being pursued. I am both excited to chase after God with this group of women and I am excited to visit and stay connected with you, my family, my people.
Friday at morning prayer we read from Matthew 12: While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
I just couldn’t take it. It was as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest and affirmed at the same moment. I wept from the pain of leaving but also the joy that is the gift of living among Jesus’ ‘brothers and sisters, and mother.’ I was overwhelmed by my love for each of you and my excitement to see you rise to the occasion and really really LOVE each other, and Jesus , and Jason, and Momma, and Benji, and Ryan, and everyone else that God brings your way. I expect so much from you all. I know your gifts and your struggles and I just want to ask you to fight harder, stand stronger, and push into God right now. You are each at a threshold and God is calling you into a new place of commitment and sacrifice. I know those words are hard at times, but it is worth it. I just pray that through all my anger, and belligerence and obvious weaknesses you were able to see an example of that. Jesus is real and risen and alive and among us! I see him walking among you and sharing in our life together. He is worthy of all glory, honor, praise, sacrifice, and love. The call is great and it is costly but his Kingdom is worth everything. Please push through temptation for the sake of each other. Don’t ever give up or let each other stumble. The Lake House is an amazing outpost of the kingdom and it is you who make it what it is. Thank you for every way your life is surrendered. The values are nothing unless you value them. Then they are earthshaking.
I know this reads like I’m moving to Australia or something and I promise that isn’t the case. I am committed to you all and promise to be around and involved and active in the life of our community. I am not breaking with you but I am moving down the street and am open to God doing what he will with me and us, and Natalia, and the women. I am hopeful that a women’s community will emerge from this that is more connected and ‘Lake House’ than anything we might have constructed ourselves. I’m reminded that “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.”
In His Hands,
Home is my community. Also, many people have joined our family and many have been called or just decided to go elsewhere. They are still family but they are not at home anymore. The most stable thing about our house and community are our values. All of the people may (and often do) change and the entire house may decay but the values are forever. They are a gift. It has really hit me that home is where we commit to Jesus and each other, home is where we share and give, home is where we experiment and build, home is where we welcome guests, home is where we fight and forgive, home is where we grow watermelons and okra, home is where we have a ton of fun and also take things seriously, home is where we, a family united by Jesus, are doing everything we know to do to see his kingdom come. I am a sojourner and a stranger with you, citizens of heaven. Our home is in Jesus and therefore we can be at home wherever he is being pursued. I am both excited to chase after God with this group of women and I am excited to visit and stay connected with you, my family, my people.
Friday at morning prayer we read from Matthew 12: While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
I just couldn’t take it. It was as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest and affirmed at the same moment. I wept from the pain of leaving but also the joy that is the gift of living among Jesus’ ‘brothers and sisters, and mother.’ I was overwhelmed by my love for each of you and my excitement to see you rise to the occasion and really really LOVE each other, and Jesus , and Jason, and Momma, and Benji, and Ryan, and everyone else that God brings your way. I expect so much from you all. I know your gifts and your struggles and I just want to ask you to fight harder, stand stronger, and push into God right now. You are each at a threshold and God is calling you into a new place of commitment and sacrifice. I know those words are hard at times, but it is worth it. I just pray that through all my anger, and belligerence and obvious weaknesses you were able to see an example of that. Jesus is real and risen and alive and among us! I see him walking among you and sharing in our life together. He is worthy of all glory, honor, praise, sacrifice, and love. The call is great and it is costly but his Kingdom is worth everything. Please push through temptation for the sake of each other. Don’t ever give up or let each other stumble. The Lake House is an amazing outpost of the kingdom and it is you who make it what it is. Thank you for every way your life is surrendered. The values are nothing unless you value them. Then they are earthshaking.
I know this reads like I’m moving to Australia or something and I promise that isn’t the case. I am committed to you all and promise to be around and involved and active in the life of our community. I am not breaking with you but I am moving down the street and am open to God doing what he will with me and us, and Natalia, and the women. I am hopeful that a women’s community will emerge from this that is more connected and ‘Lake House’ than anything we might have constructed ourselves. I’m reminded that “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.”
In His Hands,
Jon
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