SafeHouse

"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, will keep me safe." Psalm 4:8

My roommate (Heather) and I chose Psalm 4:8 to be our house verse. Our vision for our house is for it to be a place of safety, comfort, light, and an escape from the chaos, darkness, and uncertainty of life in college. We want it to be not just a house, but a home-a place of refuge and worship and prayer and encouragement.

And "Safe House" is.

"Safe House" is more than just a place to sleep for Heather and me. It is almost like a sanctuary for us. From the very start, we invited the Lord to come in and dwell in our home. It is abundantly filled with His presence and His love; some friends have described our home as a "hug" right when you walk in the door. Others say it is their escape, their hiding place when encountering ungodly experiences.

{Lord, be the blanket that covers and warms our hearts. Be the pillow we choose to rest our heads upon. Be the walls and the roof which protects us from the storms that will come our way. Be the lightbulbs and candles to shine throughout these rooms and dark hallways. Be the air we breath each morning and the daily bread that is necessary to live each day.}

This godly friendship with Heather has tremendously blessed me this past year; she has become my best friend and my accountability partner. Now that we have a house of just our own, we have noticed that: not only do we continue looking to each other for accountability, but also to our house. "Safe House" keeps me closer to the Lord because that was our prayer at the very beginning-that it would be a place of daily reminders of God's love and faithfulness and restoration. Its funny how God works--Sometimes, when I am having a spiritually dry and empty day, Heather is having a spiritually full and joyous day. Or vice versa. And now, if we both are feeling dry or empty spiritually, we can look to our home for accountability, safety, and assurance that God is constant and faithful.

"It is better to have a partner than to go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, but if there's no one to help, tough! Two in bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night by yourself unprotected. With a friend, you can face the worst." Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Heather wrote me a sweet sweet letter the day we moved in and she closed the note with this: "I am so excited to see our house become a place of peace, comfort, worship, growth, safety! A place where He is constantly dwelling. I'm so excited to dwell here with Him right next to you! Let the adventures begin!"

I truly look forward to living life here! In this house, we will enjoy life, we will make mistakes, we will learn from our mistakes, we will make coffee each morning and cook dinner each evening, we will get sick, we will get stressed about schoolwork, we will cry, we will laugh, we will mourn, we will meet new friends, we will say goodbye to old friends, we will be pursued, we will be heartbroken, we will want to give up, we will endure, we will experience God in truly incredible ways, and we will grow.

In whatever living situation the Lord brings you into, choose to make it a "Safe House" of your own. Be a light and invite God to dwell. Where His presence is, He will be glorified!