Building Cherith Oasis
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Building Cherith Oasis
We are taking a leap of faith and officially beginning to step into building the ministry that God has been growing our hearts towards over the past 14 years.
Hospitality is a major part of how God has used our family. We delight in opening our home to others! We have found over the years that the biggest growth, healing, heart changes, and restoration come from more than the occasional open door but through living daily life together. Life-changing discipleship happens in the daily rubbing of shoulders as we sit down to a meal together, pray together, and help carry the weight of each others’ burdens.
Over the past 14 years, we have been able to utilize the extra rooms we have been blessed with to house 13 different people who were in need of a place to stay. Some were for a week and some for a few years. Just as we have seen the Lord change, grow, and heal others during their time with us, we have been impacted in the same way.
We could spend weeks recounting to you incredible stories of seeing God's hand at work through this way of living We plan on sharing more in the weeks to come. (Be on the lookout for “Building Cherith Oasis” YouTube videos ;-)) But we want to start with one story when we experienced the Body of Christ at work together in such a tangible way. Here is that story from Janna’s perspective:
"We were 3 months into sleepless nights as we tried to figure out life with a yet to be diagnosed glutenand dairy-free newborn. I was standing in the kitchen, reflecting on 3 and 1/2 months earlier when I had questioned our sanity. Our current two roommates agreed to move into a room together with a bunk bed so that our newly-wed friends could move in for a few months during their time of transition. At the same time, our couch became a bed for a friend who needed a place to rest their head for a month or two. The newly-weds were married the day Cable was born and a week later we found our house at the fullest it had ever been in our time there with 11 people total. 4 bedrooms, 11 people, 2,000 sq feet. I get it; it's a crazy equation that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but when God's involved, He changes “crazy” to exactly what we need.
As I considered all of this, I found myself with everyone but Joshua, who miraculously had made it to work with no sleep the night before, crammed into our small kitchen. My back was turned from the group as I tried to soothe Cable's screams enough to where I could think, get the girls some breakfast, and make our way into doing school. Just as I barely gained Cable's composure--and mine--I turned around to see one roommate getting my 3-year-old a bowl of cereal. Another was pulling a chair up beside Skyla to read to her, and another was sitting with Paisley, helping her with math. I never asked one of them to help in this way (asking for help is a shortcoming of mine ;-)). We were just living life together. They saw the need, knew how they could help meet it, and just did it. Over 3 years later, tears still come to my eyes as I remember the Lord’s faithfulness and the incredible ways we have gotten to see Him show up simply because we said “Yes”, even when there was “no room”.
As our roommates and “adopted” family have grown, our hearts for building Cherith Oasis have grown as well. However, our space and time have not. A door has been opened by a friend whose house we have been helping renovate the past 8 months. Moving into this house is not only going to give us the opportunity to continue in communal living, but it will allow us to step out of the position that we are in and into a season of more time to develop and grow the ministry of Cherith Oasis. As we are stepping out in faith towards this God-sized dream, it's not with fear but with the realization that it's far bigger than what we can accomplish on our own. We want to ask you to prayerfully consider what part you can play in making Cherith Oasis reality.
*Minus one roommate.
We are taking a leap of faith and officially beginning to step into building the ministry that God has been growing our hearts towards over the past 14 years.
Hospitality is a major part of how God has used our family. We delight in opening our home to others! We have found over the years that the biggest growth, healing, heart changes, and restoration come from more than the occasional open door but through living daily life together. Life-changing discipleship happens in the daily rubbing of shoulders as we sit down to a meal together, pray together, and help carry the weight of each others’ burdens.
Over the past 14 years, we have been able to utilize the extra rooms we have been blessed with to house 13 different people who were in need of a place to stay. Some were for a week and some for a few years. Just as we have seen the Lord change, grow, and heal others during their time with us, we have been impacted in the same way.
We could spend weeks recounting to you incredible stories of seeing God's hand at work through this way of living We plan on sharing more in the weeks to come. (Be on the lookout for “Building Cherith Oasis” YouTube videos ;-)) But we want to start with one story when we experienced the Body of Christ at work together in such a tangible way. Here is that story from Janna’s perspective:
"We were 3 months into sleepless nights as we tried to figure out life with a yet to be diagnosed glutenand dairy-free newborn. I was standing in the kitchen, reflecting on 3 and 1/2 months earlier when I had questioned our sanity. Our current two roommates agreed to move into a room together with a bunk bed so that our newly-wed friends could move in for a few months during their time of transition. At the same time, our couch became a bed for a friend who needed a place to rest their head for a month or two. The newly-weds were married the day Cable was born and a week later we found our house at the fullest it had ever been in our time there with 11 people total. 4 bedrooms, 11 people, 2,000 sq feet. I get it; it's a crazy equation that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but when God's involved, He changes “crazy” to exactly what we need.
As I considered all of this, I found myself with everyone but Joshua, who miraculously had made it to work with no sleep the night before, crammed into our small kitchen. My back was turned from the group as I tried to soothe Cable's screams enough to where I could think, get the girls some breakfast, and make our way into doing school. Just as I barely gained Cable's composure--and mine--I turned around to see one roommate getting my 3-year-old a bowl of cereal. Another was pulling a chair up beside Skyla to read to her, and another was sitting with Paisley, helping her with math. I never asked one of them to help in this way (asking for help is a shortcoming of mine ;-)). We were just living life together. They saw the need, knew how they could help meet it, and just did it. Over 3 years later, tears still come to my eyes as I remember the Lord’s faithfulness and the incredible ways we have gotten to see Him show up simply because we said “Yes”, even when there was “no room”.
As our roommates and “adopted” family have grown, our hearts for building Cherith Oasis have grown as well. However, our space and time have not. A door has been opened by a friend whose house we have been helping renovate the past 8 months. Moving into this house is not only going to give us the opportunity to continue in communal living, but it will allow us to step out of the position that we are in and into a season of more time to develop and grow the ministry of Cherith Oasis. As we are stepping out in faith towards this God-sized dream, it's not with fear but with the realization that it's far bigger than what we can accomplish on our own. We want to ask you to prayerfully consider what part you can play in making Cherith Oasis reality.
*Minus one roommate.Organizer
JoshuaJanna Hubbard
Organizer
Blevins, TN