When plants are young and fragile you put them in a hot house where you can control the climate they are in and the conditions to which they are subjected. In the hot house they are able to grow strong and well. They are cared for and nourished in a special way.
Our family was blessed to begin our journey in a hot house. Our home church was a place where loving God and loving your family was expected, where desiring God’s blessing of children was taught, understood and practiced. A place where fathers were the leaders of their homes and where parents took their responsibility to educate and train their children seriously. It was a place where the word of God was faithfully proclaimed and was the standard by which we attempted to measure everything.
It was our hot house. Our place to learn and mature and grow strong, a place unlike any other that we have known. It was a place where we were known and loved. It was not a perfect place, you know that. It was a place full of sinners saved by grace, but it was a place where we were taught and we learned so very much from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Of course, our journey is not over, we have not arrived, but now, now we are planted in a different place.
Why am I telling you this? Because this place, this hot house, made us what we are today. Our family was not remarkable back in the hot house. There were many other families doing what we are doing. This blog is simply a conglomeration of what we have learned from others. It is not only our wisdom that we share, it is also the wisdom of the other families who were learning and growing with us in the supportive and nurturing environment.
Three and a half years ago God moved us to a place where we were outside of our comfort zone. A place where we had reach out to look for others who were traveling our path. A place where very few people have taken the time to ‘know’ us and where we often feel alone. Through that experience, we learned that there are many travelers who believe they are alone and do not know that there are others who have the same aspirations and goals.
Knowing that you are not alone on this path of following God and attempting to submit to His word in every area of your life brings comfort, encouragement, and peace. We want to share a little of this here. A little of that hot house of encouragement and love, a place to learn and grow and know that you are not alone. There are others who are on the path learning and struggling and growing also. There are families farther along the path from whom we can gather so much wisdom and there are those who have just started who could use a helping hand.
We want to thank our home church friends and family for teaching us, being examples for us and praying for us. Thank you for being willing to invest in us. Please keep it up, we have a lot to learn.
Read more about our background here.
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Great post! I hope that our home is a “hot house” to start our kids off in the right direction. My husband and I were both brought up in Christian homes, but feel like we’ve struggled to learn a lot the hard way. I only wish I had known the things I know now when we started out a little over a decade ago. But we’ve learned lots on our journey and I’m so grateful for the place the Lord has brought us, although we desire to be continually growing in wisdom and holiness. Semper Reformata, right? I know there is no guarenteed outcome in the lives of our children, but we are promised that God’s Word won’t return void and that’s what I’m trusting in.
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