It is an image that connects everything for me.
When I was a young homeschooling mom, a friend introduced me to a book, “Educating the Wholehearted Child” by Clay and Sally Clarkson. This book influenced my views on home education more than any other. The Clarksons developed what they call the “home-centered learning method”. What really gripped me was the visual of the house.
The picture of the house stayed in my mind through homeschooling and then developed further during a time of healing from trauma. As I sought to make sense of all I was learning, the house image became the framework upon which everything was built.
As I have grown and changed over the years, the house has taken shape. I will often be driving, thinking about life, and all of the sudden a new piece (or brick, if you will) finds its place on the house. I absolutely love it when that happens.
The Bible uses the image of a house or dwelling place so many times. We understand we are the temple of the Lord, He is our dwelling place, unless the Lord builds a house the laborers work in vain, a wise woman builds her house and a foolish one tears hers down, a wise man builds his house on the rock… need I go on? Runners use analogies from running. I talk about the house.
One of the things that is SO cool about houses is that they are so different. Even if you live in a “cookie cutter” neighborhood there are unique features to every home. The inhabitants are certainly not the same. Let’s take it further. Even if the inhabitants LOOK the same, are they the exact same people? Do they have the same EXACT experiences, passions, upbringing, and gifts? Nope. It just cannot be. I believe as we allow the Lord to build the house, something truly beautiful happens; I believe we experience the life that Jesus talked about...life abundant.
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