I have been in ministry for almost 40 years. I have lived in a lot of places. I (and my family) have lived in garage apartments, rental houses and mostly church parsonages. Some of the places have been beautiful, and a few have been real dumps (torn down after I left). I have bought four houses in my life, two of them have been built, and one of them I even drew out the plan/design on a piece of graph paper.

The two houses built, myself, my wife Jill, the family and/or friends did most of the building. One house we built from the concrete slab to the roof top. The last house we had a contractor build the shell, putting it in the dry, as it is said, and a church member and I did most of the rest of the work with Jill and I doing the finish work. On the houses we did not build Jill and I did the renovation work. My first house I bought we did a complete kitchen renovation, added a room off the garage and moved the laundry room to the garage. She and I got to be quite a team with the painting, flooring and minor plumbing and electrical (changing plug-ins and switches).

We are currently living in a beautiful four bedroom 2,100+ square foot church parsonage. Both Jill and I will turn 64 on our birthdays this year. We are looking for that retirement house knowing that we can’t live in the parsonage forever (next pastor will need it!).

So with all this background I tell you that we bought a house up in the Bartlesville, OK, area. It is a three bedroom, two bath, 1600+square foot house that sits on an acre of ground. Now do not get excited thinking I am packing up and moving anytime soon. Like all the other houses, it will need some work.

As a matter of fact, it is definitely a fixer upper. The inspections before purchased showed it to have good bones, being structurally sound. The two bathrooms will have to be completely demoed, reconfigured and rebuilt. The electrical will need to be upgraded from a 100 amp circuit to a 200 amp circuit. The kitchen needs to be completely redone with new cabinetry and appliances. All the rooms need painted. The ceilings will need the popcorn finish scraped off, a new texture applied and painted. The flooring in all the rooms needs to be replaced. And…there is more, but I think you get the picture.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done. Jill and I plan on doing as much as we can (it would appear that I have some experience) to save some money and allow us to splurge in a couple of the rooms. We also realize that there are some areas we will have to contract out to the professionals (plumbing and electrical are way above my pay grade).

The idea is that we will work on it a day or two a week. We realize at this rate it will not be a very fast renovation. I watch a lot of home renovation shows, and it amazes me what they can do in 45 minutes to an hour, but that is TV, not reality. We could be done in six months or it may take 18-24 months. We just do not know for certain.

We just want a home to retire to someday that is ours. And a home that will be completely done and needing no immediate work upon occupancy. The only thing we want to have to contend with is general maintenance.

All of this clicked something within me this morning. This Earth is not my home. This body is not permanent. All of it is just for a season… 70, 80, maybe 100 years but not permanent. I know that when life is over I will get a new body in a new place (2 Cor. 5:8, 1 John 3:2).

But, better than that, the new place is what I really thought upon greatly. In John’s Gospel, the 14th chapter, Jesus’ own words were that “… in my Father’s house are many mansions (rooms/ dwellings)…I go there to prepare a place for you… that where I am you may be also.”

Did you catch that? Jesus left here, went to Heaven, is with God and building/preparing a place for us, so we can be with Him! I am thinking that Jill and I are preparing a place to retire (I think they call it a forever home). A place where we can spend whatever time God has left for us on this earth enjoying family (my brother, Jill’s sister, our daughter and husband, two grandkids and inlaws) and friends.

And Jesus is preparing a place for us where we can…are you ready for this…enjoy time with family, friends and a whole bunch of other people for an eternity.

Like the house I bought, I do not know the exact completion or moving date. Nor do I (or anyone for the matter) know the date our place in Heaven will be ready. But, I will be ready for the day it comes, either in my newly purchased and soon to be renovated home here, or the eternal home in Heaven. Will you be ready?

Now where is my hammer and tape measure? Bro. Tim