Nail by Nail: Board by Board

A house and a home; Most would agree these are two different things.
A house is a structure built intended for people to live in.
A home is an environment that is familiar and custom to those who live in it.
A house is for shelter.
A home is for safety.
A house is a place.
A home is an atmosphere.

My opinion varies daily on what kind of house and home I want.
Sometimes I want a small structure, nothing fancy with low mortgage payments. Other times I want a dream home with several bedrooms and master bathrooms.
Sometimes I want a baby sitting on my kitchen floor banging my ever so expensive pots with a ice cream scooper while it’s other toys lay unattended to. Other times I want a tidy living room with just my husband and I.

However, there are some things about my house/home I do not waiver on.
My house will be built by my husband.
And my home will be built by me.
Just as I do not want a foreign contractor plastering my walls, I do not want my hospitality to be done by a babysitter or an interior designer.
Not only do I want both to be authentic but to be built by the proper partner.
Yes, social work world, I said proper.

I believe God set up our world with a system- a pretty good system in fact.
I know it’s been perverted throughout the years and some houses were built on sloping hills and some homes were built on rocky marriages- but there is such a thing as a safe home.

Miranda Lambert recently released the single “The house that built me”
Here are some of the lyrics. "Mama cut out pictures of houses for years From Better Homes and Garden magazines. Plans were drawn, concrete poured, and nail by nail and board by board Daddy gave life to mama's dream"
I can’t begin to tell you what this verse does to my heart.
It makes me dream, it makes me envious, it makes me sad- but either way, it makes me come alive.

Another song I found long ago- that never made it big but struck a chord inside my heart was “I’ll write you a song” by Plain White T’s.
"I don't know how to make lots of money I got debts that I'm trying to pay I can't buy you nice things, like big diamond rings But that don't mean much anyway I can't give you the house you've been dreaming If I could I would build it alone I'd be out there all day, just hammering away Make us a place of our own"

The thoughts of a man loving me so much to literally build me a house moves me to tears.
There is just nothing –nothing- more masculine than that in my eyes.
With each ‘nail by nail and board by board’ I see the love, the devotion, the strength, the protection, the wisdom, the discipline, and the feeling of home that pours out.
And in my opinion, I deserve a house.
I deserve a home.
I deserve to be loved.
I deserve to be adored- because that is exactly how God intended it to be.
God wants us to have life and have it to the fullest.
We deserve shelter and safety, a place and an atmosphere.

Since God knew Adam better than anyone, He knew that he would need Eve not only to encourage Adam to build a house but to inspire him- to give him a reason for his hard work. When Eve was created she was made to set Adam on fire- to bring out the fierceness in him. But don’t forget Eve is fierce also, just in a different sense. We all know never to mess with Mama’s cubs. But what about someone disrespecting her husband? Or someone having a better garden than her?

Eve is what makes Adam work. Her drive- drives Adam to start and finish tasks.
Her love drives Adam to compassion.
Her gentleness drives Adam to helpfulness.
Her desires drive Adam to succeed.
If Eve wants a new kitchen floor- Adam will install one.
Not out of persuasion or manipulation but simply because when Eve respects Adam, Adam loves Eve.
And when Eve inspires Adam, things get done.

We have roles on purpose- equal but different.
There are houses and there are homes.
There is Adam and there is Eve.
There are inspirers and dream homes.  
There is an original design.
And Like I said I want my home to be authentic.