Building A House

I still remember 23 years ago when my wife and I were designing and building our house. I was in full time ministry, so we were looking to build simple and cost effective. We built a simple 4-bedroom 2 bath on a full unfinished basement. I remember looking a house plans from a book and then modifying the plans after the house was framed. We came home at lunch one day and decided that one of the walls was too long and we modified the kitchen. We added extra outlets everywhere. We really enjoyed the process of building a house. We had a good builder who was honest and trustworthy. Our simple house is still serving us today. We did finish the basement later, complete with an additional bedroom and bath and huge play room.

I look at newer houses each week. I see all sorts of advantages of moving every few years and taking advantage of the equity in a home. I just love where I live. There are so many people who really want to build their forever home, but the costs to build a house is really increased in the past few years.  I also believe there is a big difference in building a home versus building a house. I see a house as a place to live. I see a home as place to belong with my family.

Solomon talks about building a house with wisdom and knowledge and it made me think about what it is that I’m building even now. Check this out….

³ A house is built by wisdom
    and becomes strong through good sense.
⁴ Through knowledge its rooms are filled
    with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.

⁵ The wise are mightier than the strong,
    and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.(Proverbs 24:3-5 NLT)

I want to keep building my life with wisdom.

I want to fill the rooms of my life with knowledge.

I made a commitment to be a life-long learner a few years ago. I am better today because of that decision. I love learning new things, new ideas and new ways to serve others. I’m still learning about scripture from my church. I’m still learning about the practice of Real Estate Sales from classes, seminars and sales meetings. I think learning can be fun and exhilarating. I also see people who have stopped learning and it saddens me. We have more ways of learning today than ever before. The internet put so much information within a few clicks. The Smart Phone (aka, the pocket computer with a phone app) delivers tons of information to us. I’m a huge fan of podcasts and the stuff I’ve learned there is priceless, and the only costs was my time away from music. I used to listen to music every time my truck moved, now if it’s Monday – Friday, I’m listening to podcasts that help me grow.

I want the Lord’s help to keep building my life with wisdom, knowledge and discernment. I want to make my life count as I grow every day.

Pressing On!

Dwayne