A Gift from God — One Another

Sometimes God just overwhelms us with HIS gentle love for us. HE meets us in the depths of our hearts, HE surprises us with blessings when we least expect it, and HE reminds us that HE cares about every part of our lives.

Almost 2 years ago my Dad died, and as his executor, I was very involved in preparing Dad and Mom’s house to sell. Each week I would come to clear out closets, clean the house, and manage house repairs. I had a goal in mind, and I like to check things off my to-do list; so I determined to set aside my emotions to meet that goal of getting the house listed to sell. Stuffing the emotions proved to be harder than I expected, as this house had an extra reason for being near and dear to my heart.

Dad was an architect, so the house I grew up in was a 1960’s flat roof mid-century modern house that was designed and built by Dad. It had many Frank Lloyd Wright-type features….a sunken living room with a full wall of windows, floating closets and shelving, an open staircase, and a modern floor-to-ceiling stained glass panel by the front door. Everything in the house was hand-crafted by Dad….from the stair railing and closets, to the kitchen cabinetry and stained glass panel. Dad’s creativity, hard work, and passion for life were all over this house.

So, when the FOR SALE sign went up, the tears came down. Each week that I went back to make sure things were still in order, I cried. I was really struggling to let it go. I was not only grieving the loss of my childhood home, but I was also grieving the loss of Dad again.....losing the house was synonymous with losing Dad.

In the midst of this, I started preaching to myself…. “Come on, Laurie, you need to behave like a mature Christian and let go of the house.” I was quoting verses like…. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy”…..and… “set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth; for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” I was basically beating myself up for having so much grief over losing the house.

Finally, one morning during my time with GOD, I said “OK, God, I need to deal with this.” I looked up several passages, including Hebrews 12:1-2. “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”…. “yes, Laurie, YOU NEED to fix your eyes on Jesus,” I said to myself, still feeling ashamed for my inability to let go.

But God didn’t shame me. HE gently directed me to look back at Hebrews 11, a passage I had read so many times in my life. But that day, He brought this passage to life for me. Hebrews 11:9-10, was talking about Abraham, “By faith he lived as a stranger in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is GOD.”

Wow, I was overwhelmed by God’s love. Instead of beating me up and shaming me, God reminded me that while Dad was the architect and builder of my earthly home, my Father, God, is the architect and builder of my heavenly home. Dad is with God in that heavenly home, and God was saying, “Laurie, it’s time now to let go of your earthly home.” And now, I could. As if that wasn’t enough, God did one more amazing thing.

A few months after the house sold, we were cleaning out my Dad’s shed on the old family farm where my Mom grew up. We found a box that said, FRAGILE -- GLASS. Inside this box was all the extra glass that Dad had cut to size, but didn’t use, when he built the stained-glass panel by the front door. God saved this glass for almost 60 years as a gift just for me!

We found a stained-glass artist; so, hanging in our home, there is now an almost life-sized replica of Dad’s panel. God did exceeding abundantly above all I could have asked or thought by giving me a part of my parents’ house and Dad’s handiwork. It will always be a tangible reminder of how my heavenly Father cares so much about me and the things that are dear to my heart.

Written by,

Laurie Martin