COTTAGE DEDICATION
July, 2023
I read the following to the friends and family that came to the ceremony.
I can tell stories for days about how God operates in my life. If you think I’m kidding, come on over. Acquiring this cottage is one of those stories and has become a platform for other stories. I'm going to tell you a quick one.
I bought this last year after camp and immediately got started on the rehab. I do my best praying and my best worship when I am alone with God and doing some mundane task - building, gardening, painting, creating, sewing - not crazy about drywall but if it has to be done… I also get a special thrill when I repurpose something - especially if it's some piece of junk I picked up on the side of the road. I always say that is what Jesus did with me so… Anyway, for the last year while I was working here, I had plenty of time for chat and worship with Jesus. I call Mahaffey a "thin space" - like the space between Heaven and Earth is somehow less here. I don't know if that is theologically sound but if you have spent much time here you know what I mean. God seems so easily accessible here.
This past year, the cottage wasn't the only thing that needed rehab. In my journal, I described this past year as a rough year at the end of a rough decade - and I needed a lot of time with God to get through it. Part of the way God preserved me through this time was giving me this place where I could build, garden, paint, create, sew…. and reluctantly even do drywall - all the while pouring out my heart to Him and being comforted by His Holy Spirit in the process. Matthew 5:4 says "Blessed are they that mourn because they will be comforted." That's because when we cry out to God "The Comforter" shows up! There were lots of days when it was just me and Jesus walking with my morning coffee. I now have a whole new list of sacred spots around camp where the Holy Spirit stopped me and spoke to me. He led me to treasures in His Word that sustained me and He led me on a treasure hunt of crazy physical junk that I could repurpose and give new life to - He TOTALLY gets me!! LOL Of course I have a list of stories about that.…. A few of those are on my website and some are so incredible I am still trying to write them.
So here's my point - THIS time LAST year, God knew what the enemy was planning against me and mine, He gave me my own place, at the place I love the most, to do all the things I love the most, with the person I love the most. And for the record, He didn't just get us through He brought victory. It is a story of "Immeasurably More than we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20) and I will tell it on repeat in eternity.
So how do I say Thank you? How do I find the words to dedicate such a personally sacred space? This past Tuesday morning I got up, here at camp, asking God that question. "What do you want me to say at the dedication?" He didn't answer, so I opened my online devotional for that day and read this by that day's author:
When we move into a new house, my family and I pray through it room-by-room. We dedicate each room to the Lord, ask that we would be conscious of His presence, and invite Him to guard and provide for us. We want to remember that this is ultimately God’s house, not ours. The Word of God and prayer consecrate. The word “consecrate” means “to declare something to be holy” or “to set apart something as sacred” or “to commit something to divine purposes.” (1 Timothy 4:1-8).
How crazy is that?!! See, that's how good He is to me. He even gave me the words for this dedication ceremony.
So with that, I'm going to ask my Uncle, Rev. Carl Schmidt to make an official dedication of 117 Hebron Place, which I have named Divine Romance.