Although I have told the story of how His House started hundreds of times from behind a podium or pulpit, this is the first time, in eighteen years that I have put it to writing. I relived the experience in the summer of 2006 as I shared the story with a group of children on the way to summer camp in Tennessee. As we drove I told them how it all began …

“God had you all on his mind,” I said. “He knew you all needed a nice place to live during this time in your life when you could not live with your parents – a place to be safe and where you could meet Him – a place to call home.” God came up with the answer – a children’s home in Miami.

The whole thing was His idea! He placed His desire in my heart – and I thought the idea was very far-fetched. Since God does not often shout from the sky, in the fall of 1987, He simply put a phrase in my mind and it replayed itself over and over every time I prayed. “It’s time to develop the calling on your life – a children’s home in Miami,” He said. That Christmas holiday season, two friends, my sister and I took a road trip to New York. On the way up, I shared what God was speaking to my heart and asked them what we should call this place.

My friend Terry came up with the name His House.” We all thought it was a great name. We continued talking and dreaming about this place during our entire vacation, naming “His House” with every item we had hoped would be in this special home. The four of us prayed together about the matter as I had doubts that this was really God’s direction. I was very happy and fulfilled in my job as an advertising manager for a foreign language Christian publishing company and was not eager to change, especially to pioneer an organization for which I had no experience. My request before God was that He would be loud and obvious. I asked for a clear confirmation, black and white, not a “still-small voice.” My heart’s desire was not to do another good thing, but the God-thing. Since I felt His request was pretty radical, in return, asked that He answer in the same way.

On the way back to Miami, a drizzly Sunday morning on January 3rd, 1988, God did something very special. Having spent the night in Colombia, South Carolina we hit the road early and got lost – or so we thought! Nevertheless, the detour was welcomed as we admired the beautiful white columns and black shuttered colonial-styled homes and dreamed that His House would look like this.

Astonished and amazed, we pulled over and praised God for His faithfulness. With tears in our eyes, we acknowledged that the calling to open up the children’s home in Miami was born in God’s heart, and I committed myself to do His will.
“…and that’s how it all started and we’ll be looking for the sign tomorrow,” I said to the kids as they anxiously asked, “are we there yet?” When we finally arrived in Colombia, S.C., the children were treated to a big dinner at the Cracker Barrel, where they bought their house parents a souvenir. We stayed at a hotel, where the girls had a slumber party making forts, while others giggled and ran around excitedly. After breakfast the next morning, we ventured on the mission to search for the famous “His House” sign, seeing who could spot it first. I explained to the kids that the sign belonged to a local organization serving the homeless. Suddenly, one of the girls shouted, “there it is,” and we pulled over immediately.

On another drizzly Sunday morning in 2006, we all held hands, considered God’s faithfulness and thanked Him for His House. Throughout the years, we have seen the hand of God guide us and abundantly provide for all of our needs. Though time has passed and the seasons have changed, we’re still His House.