Nine years ago this month we closed on our house at McKenzie Drive. I met our realtor for the keys and as she and I stood in the foyer we briefly exchanged words before her departure.
I clutched the keys in my hand and stood there alone, reflecting on the 23 years prior. The time we spent on Regency Circle while raising a young family and the memories that accompanied. Yet, I was looking forward with great anticipation of what God might have for the future.
I walked and prayed from room to room thanking God for giving us a home for shelter and our good pleasure but in those moments, I asked for specific things. I petitioned God for opportunities to steward well what he had given. I asked that He would allow me to use these rooms for his purposes much greater than my own. Don’t get me wrong here, our home is nothing extravagant (the smallest in our neighborhood) so it is with a humble heart I extend invitations trusting His presence will make it a place where family will find love. A place where friends will find peace, joy, and contentment. And where those who seek hope will find it a place of refuge and safety.
God has answered my prayer.
There’s no place like home.
As my time in New Roads, Louisiana comes to a close next week there will be time for packing and saying goodbye. By Saturday evening, there will only be memories of wildlife coming to the water’s edge with each day’s rising of the sun, and I will forgo the sunset’s reflection on the False River. I plan to walk myself through that familiar front door, kick off my shoes, and thank the Lord for his goodness. There truly is no place like home.
Debbie Swindell 