The House of Tomorrow

LIVING STONES REJECTED BY MAN AND LOVED BY GOD

The Contest

The night I was waiting for had arrived.

The girls and I assembled and were loaded into a van.

We were excited.

We were in isolation, separated from society.

Most of us were orphaned girls

Abandoned.

The schools around us had an annual public speaking contest

We had never entered it before

This year we had one girl who entered

I was that girl.

There were three of us finalists

Two other girls and I stood before a young man at the back of the hall

A young man held out a basket containing several slips of paper

"Take three." he said

On each slip of paper was a title of a speech.

We could chose one.

I looked at the titles and I did not hesitate

"The House of Tomorrow" was the title

I felt excitement rising stirring within me.

With the paper in my hand I walked to the platform on legs that were rubbery.

I had removed my glasses deliberately, to reduce the audience to a foggy blur.

Some greater power had given me a voice.

It seemed I had been waiting for that moment.

Was this my time?

My young shoulders felt a great weight

I was fourteen years old, a slip of a girl

I could not let my fellow orphans down.

Every nerve in my body seemed to be trembling

My veins were on fire

Butterflies in my stomach

My mouth was dry

I knew my face was red

My voice sounded strong in a way I did not feel

The highlights of the speech remain in my memory

"My house of Tomorrow will be built by God.

A family will live in that house with a Mom and Dad

With two children, a boy and a girl

They will never have to say goodbye

There will be no tears and there will be no hurting there

People will see each other, and they will listen

Books and music will fill the house

No one will be hungry or cold

There will be no crying or hitting

No will have to hide in that house

Because love will fill the house."

The brief speech took on its own power.

A young girl's passionate protest.

The protest of a child

The invisible became visible

The invisible was speaking!

When my voice stopped, the room became silent.

The silence seemed loud

Everyone remained a blur before me

I felt empty and shaken

There was a soft rippling of applause

A rustling of noise

People rose to their feet

The applause grew in volume

I was pushed back with that volume

I heard my girls yell out in cheers

Now I was crying in relief and joy

Our school won the medal. and we were mentioned in the local newspaper

For many years I kept that article

I had learned something vital to me.

There was a world outside of mine

And in that world I would find a way. /excerpt from the book Outside The Gate /j.smith

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The Temple

What was once Araunah's rough threshing floor had been transformed to a glorious Temple Mount, complete with the Temple glistening in the early sunshine, magnificent courtyards, ornate walls, myriads of priests in their special garb, and countless Levites scurrying to get everything ready.

Children gape at the 120,000 sheep and 22,000 bulls that will sacrificed that day. (1 Kings 8:63).

There are huge white boulders forming the temple walls.

Is there a new temple?

A new house of God?

Our we the living stones he has chosen for a new temple?

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I have more questions than answers

I am just the storyteller

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Coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by man, but chosen by God and precious, you are also the living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (Peter 2: 3-4)

By the Word of His mouth

We are made one holy house

Though we live as scattered strangers

We are not homeless, we are free

We are one family and one-fold

An Overseer of our souls

We are His own possession

We are living stones /Michael Card from the album A Fragile Stone