January 18 Home Communicator – A little more than a decade ago, my husband and I purchased a home that was on the verge of foreclosure. Needless to say, it required quite a bit of tender loving care. The landscaping was so overgrown one could hardly see out the windows and the inside was a dismal nod to the era in which it was built.
The last 10 years have been filled with projects, some were quick updates simply requiring a fresh coat of paint while others required a whole bunch of elbow grease and inevitably more work than we had anticipated. I love restoration. Each completed project makes it feel a little bit more like home.
As we settle into a new year, God has me thinking a bit more deeply about restoration. Perhaps now more than ever, the world needs followers of Jesus to demonstrate how God restores our souls (Psalm 23) and has given us a ministry of restoration (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). In 2 Corinthians 13:11 we read, “Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
We are called to be a people of “tender loving care” and though sometimes it comes more easily than others, each act of restoration makes life here on earth a little bit more like our heavenly home. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Serving Him Together,
Katie VanTil, Nurturing Faith Coordinator
