Parallels: Home and Spiritual Renovation—Welcoming Guests

(This is the last post in a series on what I learned through the process of renovating our home, and the parallels to a life yielded to and experiencing God’s work in renovating our life and spirit)

The renovation work is done. The vision we had for our 3-season porch and finished lower-level apartment is now reality. The spaces are beautiful—yet somehow still seemed incomplete. Why?

Spaces, even sparkling new ones, are empty without people.

The joy we have in our work has been magnified because we have welcomed family and friends over to enjoy and share in the new spaces.

We love having guests over for dinner, game nights, and even to stay in the new lower-level apartment. A young couple from Colorado needed a place to stay while in town for a wedding, and we were honored to welcome them here.  An uncle from California felt at home in the private lower level, enjoying the birds feeding outside the bedroom window.  My new office has also been a place to rehearse and create new music by myself and with other musicians.

Best of all, family meals and gatherings offer more room for dining and relaxation with the new three-season porch addition.  It has also become our morning “chapel” where we spend quiet time praying, reading, and getting ready for the day ahead.

I realize that someday another family will live in this place, and I am satisfied that the work we did will also serve them well.

So, here’s my final take-away on the spiritual renovation process:

The renovation God does in and for us isn’t just for our own personal benefit. Sure, God loves us and desires to see us healed and complete in Christ. But I’m convinced that God also sees beyond us to the people He wants us to love and bless through sharing what He has poured into and onto us. I think this verse summarizes it well:

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it”

(Hebrews 13:2)

All we have belongs to God: our lives, time, resources, dwellings, possessions, gifts, and talents. When we view these resources as spiritual capital to invest in God’s work here on earth, they will be compounded with His grace to make a real difference in people’s lives. Best of all, we will be more and more united with Almighty God on the road He has set before us, to our ultimate and eternal completion as His sons and daughters.

Here's to your renovations: Home and Spiritual! 

God bless you.

Chris Atkins