His House

We are now done with our house sitting adventures. We stayed in our friends' home (I'll call them the Jays, not their real name) for over 3 weeks. They were away for the holidays. How I loved their stupendous view! All the views around here are lovely.

These were taken a couple of mornings ago. You can see the sparkle of homes from the far mountain. The misty clouds of morning look almost creamy, like God is just stirring his coffee cup.

Oh! Isn't this beautiful! And our friends were happy to share it with us.

I wanted to capture the moon also, as she looks on it all with a chilly eye.

I zoomed in to get this shot. One house was glimmering and twinkling from across many valleys. That's the sun, whose glory can be reflected in a small thing, but magnified again to be seen from miles away. Isn't God's love that way? An overwhelming power, reflected from a small human, with far-reaching impact.

The Jays have a trash compactor. At first, Adam and I looked down on this small beast with nervous eyes. We'd never used one before. After over 3 weeks, I must say, this is the most amazing device! When we arrived, the compactor appeared to be just under 1/2 full. We are a family of six, there for over 3 weeks. Now look at it, the day we left. It still looks to be about 1/2 full. We recycled glass, plastics, paper and cans. The Jays have a disposal, and much food can go down there. Still. This compactor looks as if it were barely used. This tells you how much air is in our garbage.

The Jays have this plaque outside their door. (I smudged the year.) This is exactly, practically, how they view their home. It's really God's home, for His use. They don't just say that; they live it. To me, it's no small thing for an older couple to hand over their beautiful, large mountain home to our family, for a long stay. But it seemed a very normal thing to them. I tried to explain to Mr. Jay once, on the phone, how grateful we were, how amazed we were. I think he was confused, almost. He replied, "Well, we're just so glad you're there!"  Once, when we were talking about the house sitting, Mr. Jay led me out to the porch, and showed me the plague, as if to explain the whole thing :) It does!

I won't stomp around on this soap box again for too long, but I will say this: Christians vary widely on how tightly they hold to what they think are their possessions. I know of a wealthy, generous family who keep the entire downstairs of their home completely fitted out for missionary families who are in the US on home assignment -- all the way down to the food and the cleaning supplies. It's a free home-away-from-home, for God's people. I know a family who don't have keys for their house, and don't lock it. When I asked about this, my friend said that if someone needed something of theirs so badly that they broke in to steal it, they must need it more than she does! (Goodness!) I know other wealthy Christian families who view their homes (and some of them have two or three!) for their own personal enjoyment, or for their children. They don't feel comfortable sharing them with others, as if God gave them their homes for their own comfort! It's just an issue of perspective, you see. The Jays have the right perspective. It's God's house. They are thrilled to use it for His people, for His kingdom, in any way they can. It's open. I cannot tell you how comforting that attitude of kind generosity is, to those who need it. What a ministry!