Home is where the Heart is

This is not the post you are waiting for. I do apologize, I know I have left you hanging and I promise, we will get there - soon! But, there are occasions, anniversaries and people that are worthy of a brief interruption, a loving tribute if you will. And, I find myself needing to pause for just such a thing.

I have had the unique privilege of being surrounded by some of God's most extraordinary children and I have been an eyewitness to some of His more glorious acts of love and faithfulness. I have seen His word come to life in the mundane, I have lived out some of my favorite Bible stories and I bear witness that God is Good, all the time. God has graciously given me a "good seat" for His show, but I haven't been placed here to simply watch and enjoy. He placed me here, with pen and paper (keyboard/coffee,) to humbly and inadequately, try to tell His stories.

Mom would never ask me to tell this story- but it's my pleasure to tell it, nonetheless. It is my own sincere form of verbal applause, it is applause well deserved for endurance, patience, faithfulness and for graciously surrendering to the Lord, all that you are and all that you have. I give you the last- story of houses.

Today, was a deja vu day. But, it's been a deja vu day, all week. You see, a sign went up this week, not just any sign....."THE SIGN," and not in just any yard.........in my parents yard.  The Huggins House is on the market, my mom called this morning from such a familiar spot.........her car, down the street......waiting for the realtors to do their walk through. I have hated to not be there with her, it has killed me all week long, because I know exactly what it is like, to prepare to hand over, something so treasured.

If you are joining our show, already in progress, this will seem indulgent and absurd. You would have to know the history of the last year to appreciate that this, is not at all, about selling a house, it is about surrendering to the Lord, all that He asks of you and doing it with a glad heart. It is about trusting the Lord, with your life, your hopes, your wounds, your family and yes..........your home. For both Mom and I, part of what the Lord required us to lay down, was our homes. Let me be very clear, NOT THE STUFF, never the stuff. Only a fool, would lament stuff.......things, decorations, furniture, ornaments, possessions - all, just stuff. In my family, homes were never about stuff. Homes are filled with memories, moments of joy and pain, shared tears and laughter. Homes are far too sacred, to be filled with just, stuff. My parents home, in particular, has been filled to the very tip top, with some of the most special people, most precious occasions and some of my very favorite memories........not to mention, ridiculously good food.

Let me tell you how this house, came to be theirs. When I graduated high school, I moved from DFW to Lubbock..............about three years later, my parents joined me. I still remember getting a phone call from my parents saying that they were thinking of moving, kind of.....maybe........ thinking about moving to Lubbock..........I honestly thought they were kidding. So, color me surprised when a month later, they both retired........at 50.......sold their lovely home.........and moved to Lubbock.........and surrendered to full time ministry! Huh?



I was ecstatic! Confused, but ecstatic! I hadn't grown up in a pastor's house, I grew up in an exec's house-let me qualify that with saying, it was with one of the most godly, ministry-gifted execs. The Lord had been preparing my parents and family for ministry for a number of years, they waited patiently on His calling and in 2000, the call came.  So, we set out looking for a house. Moving is kind of a hobby of ours, I should restate that........moving was necessary, growing up - and is still loathed (the actual packing and unpacking part,) buying and selling houses is the more enjoyable hobby. I remember the day Mom and I found their house. She had come by herself to look for the weekend and we saw all kinds of houses, old - new, south - north, big - garden......on and on. Until, we got to the last house.......and we knew immediately, that this, was the one. It was, at the same time, the most amazingly fabulous and god-awful house, I'd ever seen. It had soaring ceilings and windows, a grand ballroom, enormous kitchen..........and kelly green foil wallpaper with giant orange and yellow daisies, burnt orange and white flocked walls, a 1970's suspended tile ceiling, and a lipstick red bathroom that had golden cranes and chinese writing on the walls! I called it the Lotus Blossom Massage Parlor, because it truly looked some awful Shang-Hai cat-house.......it was perfect!

When Dad got to town, it was clear he knew our game all to well. He told the realtor, a dear friend of theirs, "Now, I know this is a setup. You're gonna show me garbage all day long, so you can show me the one she wants, last......why don't we just skip to the one she's picked and go get a burger?" Excellent! We took Dad to "The House" and he laughed for several minutes before he realized we weren't joking. "You've got to be kidding me, Kell! It's hideous!" "I know!" Mom squealed, "Isn't it great!!! It has all the right things wrong with it!" Classic.

Mom's a smart cookie and can make anything look gorgeous. Dad's a smart man and knows this. That house was so "cosmetically challenged" they got it for almost 100k under market. Now, that's a deal! At the time, I was still working as a designer, so I had a crew of contractors start on it immediately - scraping ceilings and walls, painting and clearing out debris. And man, was there debris!

The house was built in 1978 and had never been updated. It had been bought by a Romanian doctor and in their culture, you don't change things.....or mow, apparently. My folks house sat on a fairway of a country club and when they cleared the yard, they found almost 200 golf balls! 12 years later, and we still give golf balls away in stockings.

Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary

And, so began their time.......in the house. My mom has exquisite taste and is an incredible hostess. They have hosted dinners for congressmen, university presidents, weddings, and any number of other important people and events. And, if you asked either of my parents to name their most favorite people or events to host, none of those would make the list, not even a long list. More treasured than any fancy party, would be countless "singin's" with the senior adults from FBC Lubbock, Apples of Gold - a mentoring bible study, that saw hundreds of women welcomed to their home, countless church gatherings, home groups and shared meals, mine and Andy's wedding reception, holidays, Mimi/Papa camps for the grandkids........my parents hosted every "welcome to Lubbock" party and, as it turned out, every "going away party" for some of the most amazing ministers we've ever known. They celebrated countless births, engagements, marriages, anniversaries and even home-goings, where everyone would gather to love on a grieving spouse or family.

To Mom and Dad, it was never just a house, it was a ministry tool.......an actual, physical extension of Christ's loving kindness. Their home, was an intentional opportunity to practice the most genuine, biblical form of hospitality. Mom has the gift of hospitality, and she's got it good......but it's so much more than being able to put together a party or a meal. Mom's hospitality is, as according to scripture, "contributing to the needs of the saints, a place of refreshing and protection from life's storms, a gift given without grumbling to glorify Jesus, given with joy and given to friends and strangers alike." And, according to Hebrews 13:2, given to angels like Brother Blevins, Mr. Heagy, Sandra and Bubba. Mom and Dad certainly entertained angels, some of earth's finest jewels, before they went Home.

I remember countless holiday meals with 30-40 people, anyone who didn't have a place to be, family close by or someone who just needed encouragement, was welcomed to the Huggins table. It was always interesting to see who might show up with a covered dish, because more often than not there would be, at least a few strangers- someone new to church, someone from a grocery store.....but more likely, one of the "strays" my dad would find at the hospital; someone crying in an elevator, or by themselves in a waiting room or someone headed out to their trailer in the parking lot, those were dad's favorites to invite over. There must have been hundreds of loads of laundry rounded up from families camped in Covenant's parking lot, people who were there from hundreds of miles away, keeping watch over children receiving chemo or loved ones care-flighted in.......if they came within 100 yards of my mom or dad, they were fed, clothed, prayed over and then someone would visit them.......every single day, for as long as they were there - and if they went to a hospital in another city, someone met them there - on behalf of my parents.

Even though, I am their daughter and even lived in their home for a few seasons.......as a semi-adult

Thanksgiving 2008

even I got to be the recipient of their hospitality. I have countless favorite memories there as well. Mom sent me the MLS and as I read through the list of all the amenities, the value and price per foot.........it struck me how different my list would be. There is not a buyer on the planet that could give me enough money for the worn and bare track around their home and the golf-course, where my dad has walked as he prayed, every night for 12 years.  I still remember standing in their living room, broken and defeated, and being shown the utmost mercy, grace and respect. I remember driving into their driveway, and seeing through the back windows Andy- my future husband, sitting at their table..........a blind date, my dad had orchestrated.  I remember dancing our first dance as man and wife outside those same windows. I remember Thanksgiving 2008, Berkley had been born 3 days earlier and I had been in cardiac ICU for five days. I was discharged the day before Thanksgiving at 4 in the afternoon and I came home scared, tired, physically and emotionally exhausted and most certainly didn't have a plan, for turkey day. My parents had been at the hospital around the clock, but somehow Mom managed to hit the stores and pull together a feast, that made it seem like everything was going to be Ok.  "Precious memories, how they linger...... How they ever flood my soul.   In the stillness of the midnight, Precious sacred scenes unfold." I'd like to meet the person who could afford to buy that, if matched dollar for worth.


This is not so much a story of houses, as it is a story of hearts, of lifestyles and legacies whose greatest purpose was to show the love of Christ with whatever they had. My parents are so good, about encouraging others to really examine how God has equipped each of us for kingdom work. What do you do? What do you have? All of it, is given for His glory. Do you bake? Do you fix cars? Are you an accountant or an attorney- start drawing up wills for church staff, young families or senior adults. Do you tinker- wanna go fix something for single moms or widows? Do you drive- let's go take the Lord's supper to Hospice.  They only thing they do better than meet people's needs, is introduce people to the lifelong blessing, of serving others. For my folks, they happened to have a house - and every inch of it was fair game for serving and loving others. Every bed, every serving piece, the yard, the driveway- every meal and every blanket were always at the ready for anyone and anything that required it.

This is not just their story, perhaps it is yours too? I can think of at least five other women who are leaving the same legacy to those around them, women who I have heard say out loud that "I know God gave me this house to bless others with." Not surprisingly, some of my mom's closest friends are women who have ordered their home and their lives around serving others, loving others and showing extravagant hospitality, in the Name of Jesus. And, it's not about the size of the house or even the "niceness" of it. Let me give you an interesting contradiction- by no means, was every house we lived in, growing up, like this house. This is not the house my parents started in, or I was born in- there were at least 12, lesser houses and apartments along the way. And yet, every house we ever lived in - was exactly like this house......with the same open doors, open fridge, open hearts. I could write this exact same story about every house we ever lived in.........whether there was 1,000 sq ft or 10,000 sq ft, that would not change anything about my parents desire or ability to serve others, or glorify God with their whole heart.

After all, it is not the grandness of the house, but the grandness of the heart..........and yours is a real stunner, Mom.

I waited until I was done, to tell my mom I would be sharing this, and asked if she had any thoughts.......I'm sharing that with you, because I could not say it better.

"I am filled with gratitude that He loves us so much. We have tried to be faithful and obedient and we have been given God's grace and when you see God's hand every step of the journey, then you KNOW that He WILL redeem the years the locust took away. It would have been so easy for Him to pat us on the head and put us on the shelf. But, He was faithful to hear our specific petition and work out every detail and recreate the exact same job that Jerry was willing to walk away from, and allow him to do the one thing that his heart was aching to do - to serve God, to make a difference in people's lives and to reflect the glory of his Savior! Isn't that what we are all called to do?  Sara,  it gives me courage to know that in the face of our trials, we were faithful and even though there were days when we thought we could not go another day, we did not waiver.

     God honors that kind of faithful obedience and I am going to giggle and howl, at what will come next.  Yes, it will be beyond painful to drive away from a home that I have loved and cared for.  But, from the first day you, Sara, and I were caught peeking in the back window by Amy, our next door neighbor, I knew that the Lord brought us to this house for a very specific purpose.  Where could we have had the party after the party at your wedding for 100 people, but in this house?  Where else could we have hosted Life Groups every Sunday night for three years, sometimes 35-40 people, but in this house?  Where else could we have shared Christmas morning with Berkley and Emerson, but in this house? Where else could we have prayed with anxious fellow believers about their illnesses, their children and grandchildren, their petitions for lost family members, but in this house?  

    It has been our sanctuary. Especially, in this last year, when I was so horribly lonely, and felt so isolated, this house enveloped me and gave me comfort.  I could walk through these rooms and remember all the many things that have happened here and I didn’t feel so alone.  It is like saying goodbye to an old dear friend, who knows all your stuff. You can just pick up where you left off when you move from one room to another and remember why you had  the words “and they danced by the light of the moon” painted on your back window.  I remember when Andy was so smitten with you    ( and you with him) and we caught him doing a “drive-by” just to see if you were at home and he gave some lame excuse about a friend looking at a house, in this neighborhood.  You were busted, Andy. And, you were in love with my daughter, even then. I remember the Sunday Night Singings we had with our dear senior adult friends from FBC Lubbock, many who have gone on to Glory. Andy fired up the keyboard, and Ann Apple played and Jerry Brownlow brought his mandolin and there were several guitars.  We sang those old hymns out of Daulton’s songbook and there were people in the room who knew what shape notes were.  Precious memories that will never fade are vying for space within these walls.  I loved every lovely minute of it. I can say I even loved every dark agonizing minute of it because out of the trial comes the growth and my, my how we have grown.

 

      One several occasions I remember telling you that I felt like I was a passenger on this journey because it was really Jerry, who was driving this bus.  It was his call to ministry, that brought us to this place and I was supporting him in whatever way I could. But, I now realize, that much like Jerry, who sacrificed the work, the job, the calling that meant everything to him; what he loved and what gave him such satisfaction, I too, will be called to make a sacrifice.  And, my sacrifice will be to surrender this home that I loved, that allowed me to use my gift of hospitality, ( I didn’t even get to the whole Apples of Gold Era) that I welcomed my babies to, that I cooked my Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Birthday dinners in ( how can we forget Superlatives), and hosted countless WMU, Sunday School parties, Life Groups, Women’s Ministry meetings.  I can’t even imagine how I would have done all that, without this HOUSE.


It was perfect for me and God is at work right now, planning and preparing the next house for me.  And, I bet it will be big enough for everyone to come home at the same time and have a place to sleep, and it will be on some rolling green acreage with a pond and a pier, for Emerson and Zachary to sit on and watch their corks bob in the water, waiting for the tug of a brim. And, there will be a bunkhouse, for all the babies to sleep in when they come to visit and it will be a little bit girly for Berkley, and Hannah and Maddie. And, it will have Mimi’s Secret Closet where I will stash all the treasures that I collect for each of my babies, as I await their next visit.  It will be grand and inviting and we will have Sunday Night Singings, and Life Groups, and WMU, and Women’ s Ministry meetings, and Bible Studies, and I’ll cook Thanksgiving dinners, and Christmas dinners, and Birthday Dinners.  And, who knows, one of my granddaughters or grandsons may fall in love, and get married and we will have to paint “and they dance by the light of the moon “ on my back window, when we celebrate their wedding.  Oh My, I can hardly wait to see what God has prepared!!!"

Me, too!!!!

     Almost a year ago, I sat in my car in front of my house and watched as the sign went up. A dear friend sent me this verse,   "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create streams in the dessert!" Isaiah 43:19
    And, to add to it - "But without faith, it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them, that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6  The Greek word used here for "without" is choris - meaning to be or live outside of something, such as someone who lives outside the perimeters of the city. So, the verse says "When you live outside of faith - living beyond its boundaries and perimeters.....you make it impossible to please Him."
   Do you get it?  Faith has a physical address, and you can live at it or outside of it. Faith, is that place where God called you; that place requiring your obedience, faith, and patience; that place where you are confident God wants you to be working and living. It requires commitment, patience and faithfulness to stay there and it requires the same to move there, but how rich is the reward, for those who do!

 My parents are moving to Gainesville, Tx........to begin serving at a church there. They have not found a house yet, but know without a doubt that this is where God is calling them to. They are leaving their home, city and friends and moving to a new location........... but, their address will remain the same, and it is the address of Faith.
    And, all will be welcome there, all will be fed there and all will know the love of Christ, there.

..........And, there will be Mimi camp there.

Shalom Y'all,
Sara
                                             UPDATE     SEPTEMBER 24th, 2013
*I am so pleased to share an update with you! I have promised I won't share inside pics before it's done....... but this very day, my parents are moving into their new address of faith! I can't wait to share more about what God is doing in their lives and there will be time for that- but for today, I just want to say "Congratulations!" to them and "Be encouraged!" to you.  It's hard to believe it has been almost a year to the day, that their house went on the market, until now....... when they move into their new home. It was a tough year of trying to wait patiently, trying to see where God was taking all of this, looking at every opened and closed door through the lens of God's will- believing and knowing that absolutely everything that happens passes through the filter of His perfect plan.......... even when you couldn't see it or make sense of it. I'll be sharing more soon- but for today, be encouraged! God is the God of order, perfection and thorough completion....... and sometimes, though not always, He gives you the most precious glimpse of what He has been working on, working on in light and darkest of nights, in seen and unseen places, softening and chiseling.... refining and pruning. God has been faithfully working for your good and in the end, is something so personal, something that grew you and glorified Him. My, my....... His ways are higher than our ways! 
      Today is the day of "giggling and howling" for my parents and I love to think how that must delight our Heavenly Father, when the scales have fallen from His children's eyes and we truly SEE our God's GOODNESS, we SEE His overwhelming GOODNESS and LOVE for us. Could there be anything worth more? Could there be anything that comforts or encourages more than knowing the Creator of the heavens and earth, LOVES YOU?

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