“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go an prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” -Jesus
The mortgage broker for our temporary bridge loan couldn’t understand why we were moving. “So…why are you moving from a turnkey home to a home only four blocks away that needs a lot of work?” he asked.
“Patti’s mother is moving in with us,” I explained. “She’s helping us financially so we can put in a mother-in-law suite in a home with a bright walk out basement and a nice view. We also don’t want to move away from our current neighborhood since it’s convenient to stores and central to where our three grown children and their families live. Our new home,” I continued, “meets all of those criteria.”
Preparing a place for someone else to live in is a daunting task, I’ve discovered. Fortunately, my mother-in-law, who currently lives in Houston, Texas, has lived with us before, so we know her habits and living style well. Nevertheless, I still worry about whether we’re getting things right.
Is the bedroom big enough? Will she like the shower in the master bathroom? What about the separate heating and AC unit we’re installing, is that overkill? Where are we going to put her TV? Should we use carpet or tile in her living room? Should we put bi-fold or sliding doors on the closet? And on and on it goes.
Preparing a place in our home for a family member to live in is also an act of love. We want Patti’s mom to feel comfortable and welcome, like she belongs here; like she’s at home.
This experience of preparing a place for a loved one to come and live with us reminds me of Jesus’ promise to all believers: “I go to prepare a place for you…that where I am, there you may be also.” It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Jesus wants us to move in with him…forever! All this time he has been preparing a place just for us. And because he knows us personally and intimately, he knows exactly what we need and like.
Sometimes I like to picture Jesus showing me around my new home: the ultimate HGTV reveal. There he is, proudly opening the front door to my living room, then on to the dining room, and so forth. I haven’t the faintest idea what will be in those rooms. I just know that every detail will be an expression of his love for me. And at that moment, I will feel comfortable and welcome, like I belong there; like I’m finally home.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
For the past sixteen years New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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