When a House Becomes a Home

We spent our last Christmas at the Frazier Court house in Wheaton this past week. This is the house where Debsue grew up and we have spent many special times there. This is Mimi and Papa's house; one that carries many memories. All of our girls were able to be there for one final Christmas. Deb's dad (Papa) die about a year ago and the house is simply too big for Mimi and she is moving to Florida.

The last day we started to clean stuff out of the cabinets and off the walls so that the painter can come and strip the wallpaper. The home once stripped of the things that made it into a home seemingly transformed into a house again. A house is a building, a place to live. A home is where people relate and share life together. That place will soon transition back from a home to a house. However the memories will carry on. We experienced the same thing when we cleaned out our Aurora home and transitioned to our new home in Brecksville.

I am not surprised that Jesus uses the metaphor of our heavenly dwelling as a home. In John 14, he talks about "dwelling places" in heaven. But what made it a home was that Jesus was going to prepare it for us and ultimately it was the fact that He will be there that made it into a home. A dwelling place is pretty exciting. I remember with great anticipation seeing our new house as it was being built in Aurora. But a home is for relationships and that is what makes it special.