What a home real means for a family in need

Kate, Chalice staff, Canada

I recently read a paper published by a real estate listings website. It analyzed the most popular words in listings by price segment – under a million, between one and five million, and over five million. For the average homebuyer, the most popular word was ‘beautiful.’ For the middle category, it was ‘pool.’ Tellingly, I think, the most popular word for the highest segment was ‘private.’

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For all of us who will never have a million+ mortgage, beauty is our priority. To each one of these people, I want to ask – what is a beautiful home?

We’ll never agree on esthetic beauty – one person’s chic is another’s sterile, one person’s eclectic is another’s messy. But I think we can all agree on what makes a home objectively beautiful. It’s cheesy but it’s true: a home that’s beautiful is one where the people in it live in love, trust, harmony, and ‘peace’ (even if that peace does not equal tranquility!)

I have had the utmost privilege to enter under the roof of sponsored children’s families in nine of Chalice’s 13 partner countries. I have been in homes made of mud, leaves, recycling, and branches. I have been in meticulously clean oases in housing carved out of a garbage dump. And I can say, I have never been in a home that was not absolutely beautiful.

Jesus us tells us that — ever the carpenter — he is building our rooms in his Father’s house (Jn. 14:2-3). I don’t know what my room will be made of, or what paint he’ll choose, and I doubt it would feature in a magazine. But because all my joy, the source of my love and peace will be there, I don’t think I’ll need a pool.

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