March 7, 2026
I don’t usually write on those daily aspects of life that are glaringly obvious. This morning, though, I began thinking about the blessings of home. Unlike most of you, we have zero ownership in the house we live in. The house is owned lock, stock, and barrel by the church. But as part of my calling, we’re privileged to call this parsonage our home. Of the four congregations we’ve served since my ordination, three of the four houses we’ve called home have been parsonages.
Every parsonage has been unique. For some reason, I began thinking about this today—daydreaming of living in one “super parsonage” that had the best aspects of all three. (Ironically, there was nothing about the house we mortgaged in Ohio that I loved, at least not enough to have any of it in a “dream home.” It was just kind of “meh.”)
For example, the house in Idaho was unique in that the living room had a large fireplace with a 13-foot hearth of stone surrounded by built-in bookshelves and a one-cubic firewood passthrough box. The passthrough had an airproof sealed door that went from the garage into the living room. Funny story: one Saturday we accidentally locked ourselves out. Our daughter actually crawled through the passthrough box into the house, then let us in from the inside out!
From Idaho, we moved to Toledo. For a while, we rented a home; and whoa, that place—OH MY GOSH—was like a wonky fun-house. I kid you not, every wall had a different measurement, and the floors were warped in all directions. Squirrels lived in the walls, and the master bedroom had a hole in the floor covered by the carpet. The owners of the house desperately tried to sell it to us, but nope, nope, nopity-nope. That house was a disaster waiting to happen.
Fourteen months into my call we signed the papers and moved into our first home. It was a nice house with some neat features. But unfortunately, we about lost that home six years later. That’s a long, storied story, but had it not been for God’s goodness and grace, we may have been homeless if not for our next call to Nebraska. (If you wanna hear more about that story, let me know and perhaps I’ll write another blog about it). That all said, I’m not ashamed to tell this part of my story; it’s a part of us and has helped form us into who we are today.
Being so close to being homeless made us appreciate the roof over our heads all the more. Living in a nice home, or just having a roof over your head, is truly a gift IMHO. I think it’s something far too easy to take for granted; and for that reason, not a week goes by when I don’t think about how close we were to living in our cars.
When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I often think of this home as part of my daily bread. Sure, our daily bread is the food God gives; but doesn’t the provision include our home?
Today, I’m thankful for THIS home. Sure, it’s not ours by deed, but it sure is a great place to call home.
Thank you, God, for putting a roof over our heads, and a nice one too. Thank you for the congregation who partnered with You to call us, and for taking good care of us by granting the privilege to make their house, our home.