Last night our contractor pushed hard in the waning light of Friday evening to finish our roof. We have a roof now. A beautiful metal roof with three skylights. We are more than blessed to have a roof. Skylights are a luxury.
We have never been homeless. We have been without a home for the past 19 months. That is very different. We have never had to be homeless in this process. We have never had to wonder if we would be able to find a safe place to sleep or our next meal. We have sometimes wondered where it would come from as we drifted from here to there and back to here but never were we concerned that we would be hungry.
I think of that a lot. I think about it because I am impressed with how much my home means to me and how much wealth we have to be able to have a house regardless of how large it is or how long it takes to build it. Worrying about costs, which I have written about before, brings shame to me when I think of how many houses could be built in a developing nation from the cost of just my house.
Years ago we worked with professionals who were political refugees from countries where dictators had taken over and wars were being fought using children. I was humbled by someone who looked around our house and said, “But so many could live here, you have so much.” That was not a particularly large house. It did have two bathrooms but in the US a house with only one bathroom is not atypical. Many houses have more. The way the person said it to me was with wondering incredulity, not rudeness or chastisement. Looking at my house through his eyes at that moment made me see my house differently.
We have a beautiful new roof that will shelter us but it will also shelter the specter of the people world wide who are homeless. We are thankful for our new roof. Tonight I think with appreciation for the programs, friends and neighbors who work world-wide to help people have a roof over their heads. If I am so grateful to have a roof of my own even though we have not lost access to a safe place to sleep, inside from the cold. We never lost our access to clean water, to food or to healthcare or been victims of civil violence or war. It is impossible for me to imagine how much a roof would mean to me if I had.
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Please consider helping those who need a roof over their heads. We encourage you to help in a way that makes sense to you. If you would like ideas, consider one of the following organizations.
Building One Home 