Beacon Hall.
Place matters. A place where he encountered a burning bush. A harvest field where she met a kinsman redeemer. A road where he heard the voice of Jesus. The place where you were born. The house you grew up in. The field where you played. The treehouse you imagined in. Your quiet spot where you especially meet with Jesus. Walking through row after row of gorgeous plant life on a summer afternoon, encountering stunning beauty. A hill where He shed His blood for you to live in the places He plants you. I believe place matters.
In recent months, my soul has celebrated and grieved the good-bye to one of those mattering places for Lea and I. Story Cottage. 16 years ago, it was unmistakeable as Ross Badgett showed Lea house after house and one by one, the list narrowed to 1412 Farrington Dr. in Knoxville. We had visions of the possibilities of what that place could be like, but we had no concept of how Story Cottage would grow and expand into one of those life places that is the soil for so much soul growth in the life of a family. I mentioned last week that our family was able to gather one final time together at Story Cottage to say thank you to Papa for His kind gift of gifting us with a place like Story Cottage. As long as our minds will allow, there will be moments captured and burned deep of a heart grove growing slowly, step by step over 16 beautiful years. I will forever be changed by that place, those moments and those hearts.
And now a new whisper. I heard last night on the mountain. Beacon Hall. 308 Green Gorge Rd. on Signal Mountain, TN. Lea and I worked in our backyard til late last night. We sat on our deck around 11pm feeling the breeze blow God's trees on the mountain. We stared at the moon and glanced around the backyard and we wonder.......what's in store at Beacon Hall? We are curious.
bea·con
/ˈbēkən/
A signal fire commonly on a hill, tower or pole.
A lighthouse or other signal for guidance.
A source of light or inspiration.
hall
\ ˈhȯl\
The castle or house of a medieval king or noble.
The chief living room in such a structure.
A corridor or passage in a building.
A large room for assembly.
Beacon Hall is the place that God pointed us to on Signal Mountain. A place for me, Lea, Trey, Grannie and Lacy to be a blessing to the nations. It was the first house that Lea and I looked at when we began our search. As we love Trey in his transition to college, our next spot had the priority of caring for Grannie in her ongoing years with Lea as her primary caregiver and me supporting. God opened and saved 308 Green Gorge Rd. for us. Lea declared that out loud this morning as we ran for the first time near Beacon Hall. "God did it. I know He did it."
Why Beacon Hall? We are asking God to make this home an assembly place that is a signal fire, a lighthouse, a source of light that points to the Trinity as our model for relating. Come add to the story at Beacon Hall. May it be so Lord Jesus.
Tonight Lea is making soup for new friends who have loved us well in this transition. This very weekend, we await the arrival of our family to gather in this new space set apart for us. We are eager to fill Beacon Hall with familiar hearts, new hearts and new and old stories. Places matter. And it's the hearts that grace her halls that begin bleeding character into that specific place. The story continues at Beacon Hall for His glory. HGA. His Glory Alone.
Come see us. You are welcome at Beacon Hall.
This transition from Story Cottage to Beacon Hall reminds me that.....
There's more.