{Be Delighted} Delight House Update #3

By: Kristin Wall, Founder of Delight
I just returned home from a week away where I intentionally & purposefully spent time seeking God’s will for the Delight House. I came home with renewed clarity, excitement & knowing the next steps He’s asked us to take in obedience. That isn’t to say that I’m not sitting here processing and trying to understand it all. . .  it’s all a bit humanly overwhelming!

Arriving at For the Love (a retreat for photographers), I realized that I was struggling with some heart issues.  An analogy that was given was that like a chiropractic adjustment, I needed a heart alignment.  That I was having a difficult time “letting go” of the dreams I had for my future & accepting God’s plan for me. I think oftentimes we have in our minds how things are meant to unfold in our future.  Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is purpose of the Lord that will stand”.   I also was dealing with the idea that God has asked me to be part of a “ministry”. . .that wasn’t something I asked for or ever envisioned doing with my life. It truly is the last thing I would have ever expected.  I am going to be real with you. . . I didn’t realize that I had some issues with the word “ministry” until I was sitting in a lawyers office talking about our non-profit status.  I associated the word “ministry” in a negative way.

So I’ve prayed that God would reveal to me “why” I have felt that way & get to the core of this heart issue I was having.  I feel like blinders were taken off my eyes last week & that God really revealed some beautiful things to me.  Someone wrote me a beautiful letter while I was there & explained to me that ministry is “meeting people where they are at and taking them to where God wants them to be. Meeting people. Ministry is always relational. Faithful ministry isn’t a project. Ministry is people. The administrative elements of ministry should only be tools that lead us to building relationships with others.  This whole process is called discipleship. Ministers disciple people.”  This excites me! I love these incredible amazing girls so so so much & my heart’s desire is to be part of their lives. We are called to be disciples. The administration part isn’t my favorite. To me it feels like a job & it’s truthfully not fun! But, that is a tool that God uses to ultimately bring about the final results. So if that is what it takes, I’m all in & will choose joy in the process!

So back to the Delight House. . . I have realized that I have a difficult time asking for help.  Maybe it’s pride? I honestly don’t know why it is so hard.  But, I know that the rebuilding of the Delight House is something that can’t be done without a lot of outside help.  After prayer and confirmation after confirmation we feel like we (my husband and myself) aren’t to take out a loan to pay for the house.  We know God is going to provide. Looking back in the past, it is evident God has been providing for Delight long before Delight ever existed.

About 10 years ago, we had to name the strip of land between our house and the top of the hill  to the highway.  Little did we know this strip of land would lead between our home and the Delight House.  We had to legally name this strip of land as we have an easement to drive on our neighbor’s driveway. (I hope this isn’t too confusing!)  I “randomly” chose the name, “Gilead Lane” (it was an audio series my kids were listening to & the CD case was sitting right there as I needed to find a name). The name really didn’t matter as no one would ever see it other than to be recorded at the county.  I hadn’t thought about it since. Well, a couple weeks ago I was a bit restless as I was going to sleep realizing what a HUGE leap of faith we were taking.  The next morning, I got up and had my quiet time & opened to where I was reading in the Bible.  The word “GILEAD” was staring at me in the face. I remembered that the strip of land between us and the top of the hill where the Delight House was named Gilead Lane.  So I researched what “Gilead” means.  It means “hill of testimony”. What a beautiful thing to realize that God has had this home planned & has been establishing things step by step even years ago. . . and what a amazing reminder that this home will be a testimony of His goodness, mercy & provision.

Our next step is tearing down the ceiling, so we need manual labor to help. Then, we will be ready to purchase sheetrock & have it installed.  We have set up an account to raise funds to help rebuild the Delight House.  We ask that you might share this need & cover this upcoming project in prayer. . .that we would see God mightily provide manual labor as well as supplies.  The link for donating is https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/g4z3/delighthouse.  This is all new to me, so any ideas, help or wisdom would be greatly appreciated. My e-mail address is:  delightandbe@gmail.com or you can comment below!

Thank you for your ongoing support, encouragement & prayers!