Love Is the Message
Someone once said, “Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” On a damp, windy but wonderfully cool day, the volunteers of Smyrna-Cobb Coalition — Christians, Muslims and Jews — gathered to demonstrate our belief in the power of love by beginning the coalition’s twelfth Habitat house. The inimitable Fred Rogers, whom we all know from “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” has expressed where this love comes from so well. He said:
With all the sadness and destruction, negativity and rage expressed throughout the world, it’s tough not to wonder where the loving presence is. Well, we don’t have to look very far. Deep within each of us is a spark of the divine just waiting to be used to light up a dark place. The only thing is — we have the free choice of using it or not.
We choose love to light up the dark places. God works in each of us as we help others. Love is the message.
As we opened our 2008 build with a blessing of the workers and a prayer for the building of the house, Rabbi Steve Lebow talked about how the physical can become spiritual. Building a Habitat house is much more than hammering, sawing and, yes, aching bodies; it becomes spiritual because of the reason we do what we do — love of our neighbor and love of God. Father Gene of St. Thomas the Apostle also told us that love makes it all possible. A former minister of one of our churches once said at a dedication that God is in each of these houses long before construction begins — in the planning, in the funding and, finally, in the building of the house. With love, the house will become a home.
For a brief moment this year — just a brief moment — we were not sure if we would be able to build. The economy is not doing well, and as we all know, money has always been a struggle for us. We didn’t give up and say, “OK, we can just wait until next year.” One thought was that this might mean that a possible homeowner might not get a house this year. We prayed and asked for help and stepped out in faith. The help came in the form of a corporate partner, Chase Bank, and a Habitat grant from the Housing and Homeless Council of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. We were told we probably would not get the entire amount requested from the Housing and Homeless Council — thankfully, we did. We are grateful for all the help that we got; without it we would not have been here this week. I think if each house came easy for us, perhaps, it would not mean as much. The faith, love and prayer that goes into making it all work makes us stronger and more determined to continue building.
Love is the message as we work together, and the “ride” is always wonderful and so worthwhile!
Volunteers framed the exterior and interior walls, put OSB on the corners, plumbed the corners, did the cap plates and built the porch beam. It was a great weekend!
Welcome to the Journey
When we talk about Habitat, we tend to focus on the goal, a home for our homeowner, which is, indeed, important. However, as Jonathan Reckford, Habitat’s CEO, says in an article in the June 2006 issue of Habitat World magazine, the journey to that goal is also important. He says:
One commonality among you [Habitat volunteers] is a firm belief that the benefits of decent housing, the rewards of becoming involved with Habitat, belong not just to the homeowner. The tangible benefit of decent, affordable shelter should and will never go overlooked, but the Habitat experience is just as much about what happens on the way to that end. Yes, it's about the destination, but it's just as much about the journey. It's about transformation within the homeowner family and also transformation among the volunteers and donors; it's about the transformation of entire communities, when through the stability of families, they, too, begin to thrive.
Last year our coalition welcomed two new churches to our group, Crosspoint Presbyterian Church and Cumberland Community Church, and this year we have the new experience of welcoming a corporate partner, Chase Bank. We are always excited to introduce new people to this wonderful Habitat journey that our group has traversed eleven times already. Furthermore, each year brings us new volunteers from our existing groups, and this “newness” serves to give us a fresh perspective on something that we love to do — that is, to show the love of God in this tangible way and to make a difference in our world.
Our eleven Habitat journeys since 1995 have introduced us to the Parks family, the Quarles family, the Moulder family, the Cooney family, the Curic family, the Pitt family, the Bakhshizadeh family, the Carleton family, the Thomas family, the Ngoe family and the Bass Family. We have seen their lives changed, and we have been touched. We have seen a community transformed, the Bates Street community in Smyrna, and have taken part in the creation of two Habitat communities, Claxton Commons in Mableton and now the Hillcrest community in Austell.
Starting on August 23 this year, we begin the journey the twelfth time. We have not met Donna White, our 2008 homeowner, and her family, but we know that we will be blessed by knowing and working with them. As we raise the walls of their house, we create hope for them — hope that will, God willing, transform their lives. The excitement of helping make someone’s life better, of making their dream of owning their own home come true never gets old. As someone once said, “It's good to be blessed. It's better to be a blessing.”
Welcome to the journey!
Our eleven Habitat journeys since 1995 have introduced us to the Parks family, the Quarles family, the Moulder family, the Cooney family, the Curic family, the Pitt family, the Bakhshizadeh family, the Carleton family, the Thomas family, the Ngoe family and the Bass Family. We have seen their lives changed, and we have been touched. We have seen a community transformed, the Bates Street community in Smyrna, and have taken part in the creation of two Habitat communities, Claxton Commons in Mableton and now the Hillcrest community in Austell.
Starting on August 23 this year, we begin the journey the twelfth time. We have not met Donna White, our 2008 homeowner, and her family, but we know that we will be blessed by knowing and working with them. As we raise the walls of their house, we create hope for them — hope that will, God willing, transform their lives. The excitement of helping make someone’s life better, of making their dream of owning their own home come true never gets old. As someone once said, “It's good to be blessed. It's better to be a blessing.”
Welcome to the journey!
