The Sure Foundation

 Ayla and Rob have a home. Rob's former boss and roommate will be moving out of the house he owns sometime this fall and he has offered the Sarasota home to Ayla and Rob to rent as their first home together. It's a load off for both of them, since they knew they would need to find a home together sometime within the next 87 days. Turns out this home that Rob has been living in since he moved to Sarasota is just 8 minutes from the beach and 15 minutes from where they both work. It's in a nice neighborhood, has plenty of room for them, two bedrooms, a good-sized yard, storage facility and precious patio. It will be a wonderful first home for this couple. Daddy and I are excited that they will soon be able to put their own stamp on the home, figure out exactly what pieces of furniture they need and start making this house a home.

Just last Sunday I was teaching my Sunday School folks about God's call in Genesis 12:1 to Abraham (then Abram) to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you." Later standing next to an oak tree in Shechem, the Lord tells Abram to look around, because all that he saw would belong to his descendents forever. What is significant about this location, is that hundreds of years later, Moses' successor, Joshua, who led the Israelities into that Promised Land, asks them to make a very important decision in that very same place. He says to them, "Choose this day whom you will serve ... as for me and my house we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). In this place where God told Abram he was home, Joshua asks the Hebrews to solidify what the foundation of that home was. 

No matter what Rob and Ayla's home is built of, what colors are painted inside, what furniture fills the room or decorations are on the wall, none of that will compare to what foundation it's built on. If the foundation is remotely shaky, the whole structure is at risk.

It's the same with our spiritual lives.Our foundation is Jesus. 1 Corinthians 3:11 says, "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." Jesus tells us He is "the Way, the Truth and the Life" in John 14:6 and that "No one comes to the Father except by Me." He wants us all to know that the door to the Almighty goes through Him. He is one that makes it possible. If we have Christ as the cornerstone of our lives (Ephesians 20) we are set to come face to face with our Creator. We build on that by our actions and love, building a temple to our God, with the Holy Spirit dwelling within.

My sweet ones, you will have a home, but we pray your home's true foundation will be in Christ. That each room will be blessed unto Him. That what happens in that home will be to His glory. That in it you be will loving towards one another and that guests will feel warmly welcomed. Psalm 119:54 says, "Your statutes have been my songs wherever I make my home." Praying that God's Word will always be a sweet song in your home. Choose this day whom you will serve.

Discussion: What makes a house a home to you? How can you make sure Christ is the foundation of your life? Will people be able to tell by looking at you and looking at your home, that you belong to the Lord?

Prayer: Father God, we pray that every home that Rob and Ayla and Anton and Kayla occupy that it will stand a s a sanctuary of worship to you. That Your presence will be felt, Your grace displayed and love shown. In Jesus, Amen.

Shelter of the Almighty

In the Jewish faith, wedding couples get married under a chuppah (pronounced hoo-pah), a canopy made with a tapestry atop four poles. The word itself means "cover." Tradition said, when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a pine tree. When the two married, the trees where cut down and a chuppah made from the two. It symbolizes the bride coming into the groom's home. It was essential in the Jewish ceremony because marrying under it sealed the union that began with a betrothal. It's referred to in Joel 2:16, which says, "Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy" (chuppah) and in Psalm 19:5, "which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy." In ancient times, it was the room where the marriage was consummated, but later just became the arch under which they were married.


This chuppah tradition has evolved into a wedding arch for Christian weddings. They can be made of wrought iron, wood, bamboo or plastic. Typically used in outdoor weddings, they are usually decorated with items found in the marital setting, like vines at a vineyard, seashells at the beach, flowers in a garden and branches in the woods and sometimes have flowing fabrics interwoven. The arch can be a focal point and set the mood of the ceremony. It doesn't overshadow the bride and groom, but rather romantically frames them. It can also provide them with a little shade at a sunny ceremony.

Rob and Ayla have chosen to get married under a wedding arch. Just recently Ayla texted a picture of the arch your friend Lindy is making as a gift to you both for the wedding. It will be a lovely setting and backdrop for the two of you to exchange your vows and will certainly add to the ambiance of your deck top wedding on the Manatee River. I personally look forward to seeing you both along with Daddy, standing beneath it.

While the Jewish chuppah is about a husband providing shelter for his new wife, you both will eternally reside in the shelter of our Father. I like to think of the arch as a shelter of the Almighty as described in Psalm 91:1 "You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.'" In Revelation 7:15, Christ talks about God spreading His tent over us. And Christ himself "covered" our sins. God is our Strong Tower, our Refuge and our Fortress. Psalm 27:5 says, "For He will hide me in his shelter, in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of his tent; He will set me high on a rock.'" It's a place of protection and trust.

Next fall, you will stand beneath an arch to recite vows and you will also be searching for an actual shelter that you will share together as husband and wife after the wedding. We pray both will provide you with a sense of protection and trust in our Father ... one symbolically and one actually. 


Discussion: What do you think of the tradition of the chuppah? Have you talked about what kind of home you will have together? How does a home give you a sense of protection and trust? Do you feel that from the Lord?

Prayer: Lord, may our homes be a place where we feel safe and loved. We thank you for being our Shelter, especially in times of trial. We praise Your name always. In Jesus, Amen.

Find A Balance

Right after Daddy and I married, I moved into what was his apartment in Murfreesboro, TN, which was now to become "ours." He had sweetly prepared this new home for us, even getting a few pieces of furniture. Having just graduated from college and living in the dorms all four years, neither of us had any furniture, kitchen supplies, beds or tools. So everything was new. So when I first walked in the door, what should greet me but three giant inflatable sports balls hanging from the ceiling. Not even kidding. A giant football, baseball and basketball. Pennants, baseball helmets and sports posters on the walls. Oh, and a Moosehead beer light by the bed. So the first thing I do when I move in ... take it down. This was our apartment living room after all, not our college dorm room. Thus the take over began.

Just like it's often comically portrayed on some television series of women taking over the home, getting rid of some of the husband's scarier items and doing the interior decorating, we were following that pattern. Somethings just had to go. First off, he was making room for a new wife. Secondly, that new wife was putting together her first home and thirdly, we had different ideas of what that home would look like, from the arrangement of furniture to what went the walls. And honestly, those discussions came up every move we have made in our marriage. It got to a point where your Daddy felt like he got the garage walls for his things while everything else in the house was mine or my idea (more often than not for good reason). However, he was right in that he needed his space, too.

Thus someone coined the phrase "man cave." The place where he could take over in the decorating, arrange the furniture the way he wanted and unwind after work or on weekends. Your Daddy wanted me to make sure I told you to be sure to allow Rob his place and space. Likewise, to be conscious that to a woman, her home (and her husband's appearance for that matter) are an extension of her. Thus, if it doesn't look they way she wants to come across, it can weigh pretty heavy on the way she thinks people view her.

So, find a balance. If you are both good at decorating and designing, compromise should be easy. If there is something your new spouse will have that one or the other of you just do not find appealing, explain why and see if there is a place for the item.

In our case, I do not believe the Moosehead light ever saw the light of day again. And the inflatables ... well let's just say, they make great beach balls.

Discussion: Who will be the decorator in your new home? Will there be a space for each of you? Is there anything either one of you have they will not work in your home together?

Prayer: Father, we thank you that we are two different personalities with different likes joining together. Give us grace to see what our loved one sees in their personal things. Helps us to created a beautiful home together. In Jesus, Amen.