Empty houses are a lot like our lives when we are young. They are clean, awaiting new life and full of potential. That is just what I saw this morning when we got the key to Lisa’s condo. It’s very nice and will suit them just fine for hopefully the next few years. But just as a life full of potential with no risk or direction, this house if it stays empty is almost useless. Yes, you can sleep in it, as I am doing tonight. But it is uncomfortable because there are no chairs to sit in, no table, no pots or pans to cook with; and especially for me tonight, no bed to sleep in. So tonight it will be lying on some blankets on the carpet in the bedroom. Our lives, without Kingdom direction and the grace of God are like that. Maybe they will get by, but they are extremely uncomfortable.
It’s also important what we put in the house. We can fill it full of junk and it will still not be great, or we can fill it full of beautiful things. Have you ever been to the house of someone who “hordes” things. Last year I went into this house to help someone move something. I couldn’t get through the rooms. There was a little pathway, every inch of space was filled with, in my eyes, junk. It took me three times as long to do what I said, because I had to move all the other things to get to the one thing I wanted to move. Sometimes our lives get like that too. We have so much going on, so many things we think are “good”. Our lives get so filled with “stuff” that we don’t have time for the “one thing” that we need to be doing.
So, here I am in an empty house for the next two nights. The movers come Wednesday morning to bring all the furniture. That begs the question I had earlier. Where am I going to do my blog. The good news, for more reasons than one, there is a Starbucks less than a mile away. Yes, I did help Lisa pick this house out. So here I am at Starbucks. The bad news is that they were already closed when I got here tonight. But it is a beautiful night with a nice breeze. I’m sitting outside at a table using there wireless to write and surf the web. Life is good, even in am empty house. I don’t think the police will arrest me for “Wi –Fi theft”. At least I hope not. As much money as I spend here, I feel like I own it anyway.
I am really tired, but much more alert than last night. I haven’t read what I said, but it was all I could do to keep my eyes open between sentences. I was totally exhausted. I got some good sleep last night, but I needed it today. I now know why most parents are young. Lisa went to work today at about 9:30. So I had both girls in that empty house until about 5 this afternoon. Did I say it was an empty house? There was one small box of toys. No place to sit except the floor. The voices echo,echo,echo… and sound so loud. Oh, I had two dogs too. Well it really wasn’t as bad as it sounds. The girls were very good, and we went for a walk and to the park and also out to the “Tropical Smoothie Café” for a late lunch. The bad news is that I will have them from around 7 AM until 5PM tomorrow in that same empty house. But Hernan will be there with me and hopefully that will give me a little relief. I now have new empathy for parents of toddlers. I remember the old Air Tran TV ad where the elderly grandparents drove up to see their kids and the kid’s handed the baby to Grandpa and left on vacation. The Grandpa was shuffling out toward them saying, “Help, Don’t leave me with the baby! Don’t leave me with the baby!” It’s not nearly that bad. I did have a great time with them today, but there were times I was thinking, “What in the world am I doing?”
I was able to spend some time today praying in the rooms asking for His protection, peace and presence to fill every room. So the house is no longer empty. It’s already filled with Holy Spirit. That’s the first step to filling an empty life too. Pray to receive Jesus as your Savior and then have your “house” filled with Holy Spirit. Well, it’s time to go check out the carpet and see how comfortable I can make it. I am praying for healing in advance. I declare “no back pain” tomorrow morning.
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