Hebron House

I thought I'd do a separate post about what we like to call 'Hebron House'.
For years we've been praying about not only getting a house for more living space, but a house that would be able to be used for ministry. I've often struggled with my role in ministry, because I'm just not an 'evangelist' type of person, not someone who likes to hit the streets witnessing to people, really I struggle with meeting new people. And I've never felt like a teacher type person either. So, where do I fit? Over the last several years, the Lord has been making it more clear to me that He has given me certain gifts that can be used in a different sort of ministry. About 2 years ago, I was really feeling 'un-used' and asking the Lord where I belong, and He gave me a 'vision' of warriors on a battlefield. I said, "Lord, I'm not a warrior." And then He showed me the warriors coming back to the camp injured, and the nurses ministering to them. I really felt like He was showing me that that was my place - tending to the warriors. As I've shared this with Joe, we've really felt that our home is supposed to be a place for this kind of ministry. So, although our current home is rather small, we were trying to be "faithful in the little" by opening our home for small group, and other get-togethers to build relationships with many people. And so we began to pray for a larger house to make such gatherings a bit more comfortable (and less stressful!).
Then, as a leadership conference, we were praying more about our house and the Lord dropped 'Hebron' into our head. We researched Hebron a bit more and found that Hebron was a place of rest, a place of gathering and community, and it was given to the tribe of Judah (worshippers) as an inheritance. That's exactly what we desire our home to be! So, we intend to name our home 'Hebron House', dedicating it as a place for gathering, community, relationship, worship and rest.
So, though our new house will be significantly larger, it is not just with the intent of expanded living space, but for expanding our ministry opportunities as well. My dream is to one day have a 'luxurious' retreat that we could open to traveling missionaries, or other ministers in need of rest. My love of entertaining/hostessing is not just a fun hobby, but I believe a gift that is God-ordained for this purpose. And so this is our prayer for our home - Hebron House!