For the last year and some months, I’ve been able to call the Green House my home.

I almost wrote proud to call the Green House my home… But if you’ve ever been inside the Green House, you know that’s probably not something one should take pride in.

Those of us who have made the Green House our home over the years have a tendency to speak ill of the place. It’s easy to do. But I promise, it comes from a place of love. Probably. Maybe.

The Green House isn’t the kind of place you’d feature on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens. Unless it was side by side in a before/after image as the before part.

It had mice. It had spiders. There may or may not have been a groundhog or some other sort of burrowing creature trying to eat its way up through the floor of the bathroom. The front door was caulked shut because… reasons… The ceiling in the living room slowly chipped away where it leaked any time we got more than a tenth of an inch of rain.

But it was home.

Also, it was free. There’s a whole lot you’ll put up with when the rent is zero. Well, there’s a whole lot I’ll put up with when the rent is zero. I don’t want to speak for you or anyone else.

Here’s a brief history of the Green House as far as I know it…

The Green House sits on the edge of 10 acres of land that was purchased by our church as the site of our future ministry center. There was no sense in letting the house sit empty between the time of the purchase of the land and the time of breaking ground on the ministry center. So it was offered as a place for staff members in need of living quarters to stay for free.

Worked out great in my case. Several came and went before I finally moved in. They each had their stories to tell. As it would turn out, I would be the Green House’s final tenant.

Because the time has come to break ground. It’s time for the old shack to come down to make room for heavy equipment that will come in and reshape the land and, eventually, build a new building.

In a previous post, where I wrote about the recent change to my career situation, I mentioned that I’d seen God providing in amazing ways. That includes my living situation, too.

When I wasn’t sure what I would do or where I would live next, a friend stepped in and gave me a place to lay my head. I’m so grateful, though I hate to impose on him. So it’s a temporary situation until I can get on my feet with the new job.

So if you ever hear me complain about my lot in life, remind me of all that happened in October of 2018. That’ll probably shut me up.