// written on Wednesday, April 1, 2026 @ 11:31pm, dining table //
This is probably my favorite piece I’ve written in a long time (welcome to my first short story) — and in writing this, I realized a new area to let Him into, and I saw more of His heart for me, genuinely. Oh, Lord, come and heal my mind and heart of who I thought You to be. Heal me, and be a Dad to me. Cause me to know and remember who You are and want to be to me.
(p.s. i stayed up to write. some of my best writing ideas meet me at night — this is a very rough draft, and could be thought out more, but here it is. feel free to let me know what you think!)
I’ve never met anyone so happy to live in a home that was broken into, used, battered, bruised, and still found loving other things — until I met the Lord, and He came into my heart.
I opened the door and welcomed Him in. It had been a long time since He had come by, and so He admired the walls and what I had done with the place. I’m not sure if He could see that the painting next to the staircase barely covered the hole in the wall or hear the dripping of the water from the ceiling into a bucket because the A/C was broken and now the house was too cold or feel the chipping painted walls. I opened the door, but felt a sudden shame of what He might find.
With no attention given to anything but me, He asked how my day had been, and what I had eaten. He took His shoes off at the door, and then I walked Him to the kitchen. I offered to make Him something to eat, but He said He was fine with whatever I would provide.
He had these familial, warm, and kind eyes, the kind that you would catch and would make you stop. Stop and breathe. The kind that assured you were safe to be lost in. Interesting to think how eyes can hold you. How you could feel safe with just one look.
We ate, and then He asked for a tour of the rest of the house. I showed Him my unfinished art room, broken pottery barn, dying garden, stuffy garage, and then His room at the end of the hall. Some rooms were left out because they were not neat or well-put together, but I found that as I tried to end the tour, He lingered in more rooms than one, and then I saw His eyes again. He asked a question without using any words, asking, “I know there’s more, would you show Me?”
I responded, “Well, You definitely do not want to see what else there is — it’s not up to Your standard, and had I known that You would have come today for a longer stay, I would have gotten things together and prepared a better place for You to be. I can show You Your room again and help You bring in Your things, if You would like? You can stay in Your room or any of these rooms or You can go back downstairs and watch a movie or something or play a ga—”
“Oh, I see. I was just hoping to be where you were, but I am happy to be wherever you allow Me to be. It’s a joy to be here with you at all. Thank you for letting me in.”
I left Him alone, and came back to find Him in my art room. He was humming a familiar tune that I had known as a child, and finishing one of my childhood paintings. Where did He know to find the paint color I had been missing?
—
The next morning, He had made me breakfast and asked if I would join Him to eating. He already had the table set and prepared for me, and said all I needed to do was to join Him. So I did, and He told me stories of a daughter He had whose favorite meal this was. It was my favorite too. Some lucky girl she is to have a Dad who remembers her favorite meal.
He showed me what He had been working on that morning on the pottery wheel. He called it His masterpiece. I hadn’t been in this room for a while because something there felt broken and beyond redemption. He chuckled and said He loved working with His hands and on broken things, and for the first time, I noticed the holes in both of them.
This piece was not yet completed, but He looked at it with so much joy and pleasure — something that could do nothing for Him in return, He delighted in. It reminded me of the look in His eyes when He looked at me when He came in to eat.
Could He tell that I didn’t feel safe here? That I was barely surviving and that I wanted to let Him in further, but didn’t know how? Oh, what it would be like to be held by Him like the clay, and called a masterpiece. To be healed by His eyes. I wanted Him to look into me, to remove whatever was not meant to be and heal the things that were beyond what I thought to be redeemed or fixed and make it whole, make me whole — secret contemplations of my heart, these were. Was He someone more to me than I had known? How could He have such an affect on me?
—
I went on my afternoon walk, and to my surprise when I returned, He was right where I last saw Him, working on another piece, but this time the painting next to the stairs was replaced with the piece that He had been working on — and now the hole in the wall was not just covered, but also filled. There was no evidence of there ever being a hole there.
—
We went on like this, He and I, and after seeing what He could do, I showed Him another room. And then another. And another, and then another. He made more pieces in the barn, a blanket with my name on it, repainted the walls, revived my garden — I never knew things could grow there again. It was fun talking to Him while He fixed the house, fixed things that I did not even know needed fixing, making it a home again.
But there was one room…I couldn’t. He must not enter. There’s too much there to be seen. If I show Him this room, He’ll never return. He’ll think me too little to be. He would leave at an instant.
Hearing my thought from far off, He called out and said, “Hey! I just wanted you to know that I’m so happy to be here with you, I would never leave. I’ll only go where you allow, and I will be gentle. I promise.”
So I called Him up, and in tears He took my hand, and I led Him and opened the door to the last room that had been closed. This was my private room of all the things I held near and dear, collected, and carried — things that competed with Him, and argued, wrestled for the first place in me. Suddenly, a certain smell rushed toward us — the smell of something that had died but was still trying to live, something fighting for life. His eyes filled with tears as He saw to no end what occupied the room. I could see His broken heart so clearly. I didn’t know it hurt Him this much. To be replaced by other things. My, I was touched by what went beyond His sadness, and was grief. I fell to the floor and wept.
In His weeping, He gathered me, put me on His back, kissed my forehead, and whispered, “I’ve found thee, thou art Mine:” and then item by item, thing by thing, He cleaned the room until nothing remained but us.
That room was something between He and me. He never brought it up or reminded me of the work that He had done, and never did I once feel that He was disgusted by or disappointed in me. He was not sad because of the things, but because I had given His place to another. Although sad, He was glad to be with me in all these moments to help, gather, and restore me.
—
I came across a letter from Him that evening telling me that He did not want to overstay His welcome if I no longer wanted His presence, and would be leaving first thing in the morning.
But there’s no way He could leave now. How could I forget the work that He had done and who He was becoming to me? He’s familiar in a way that I cannot describe, in a way that I have never experienced, and He cares for me in the most tender way. I broke His heart, and yet, He stayed. Almost as if I was someone to Him that He really loved, would never leave alone. It’s almost as if this house was really home. It was comfortable now, and now I didn’t want Him to leave. I wanted to be with Him, wherever He was, involved with Him, and never letting Him go. I had been met by the sweetest of loves. My heart became free. And my shame was undone. He loved me . He loves me! He even made me the object of His love — His masterpiece. Everything I needed, He was. Present registration — He is. There is no way He could leave now, I was just getting to know Him, and He showed up at the perfect time, and now, I should ask how He knew. How did He know this home needed so much work? How did He know that I ran out of a paint color? How did He know my — I mean, His daughter’s favorite food? How did He know there were more rooms, and things to fix and clean out? How did He know to knock on my door…that I would open? It’s almost as if one day there was a hole in the wall, a crooked painting to hide the damage that had been done, water dripping from the ceiling, chipped painted walls, broken and unfinished pieces, and now none of that remained. Somehow in His constant visitation to me, I was healed. Wait.
“How did You know what I had been needing?”
“A Father always knows.”
“That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,” (Ephesians 3:17)
“For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” (Matthew 6:32)
All along, it was me. The one He chose to set His love upon. The one in whom He was pleased to make His home in. To dwell. To love. To live. It was me who was His masterpiece, and He was — is always, so happy just to be with me.
“Because He has set His love upon Me, I will rescue Him; / I will set Him on high, because He has known My name.” (Psalm 91:14)
I was happy now, in my new home. The sun comes through the windows as it once did before, I dance to the sounds of the rhythmic mornings, and have no need of lack or fear because He is always near. And I found that I too, was just happy to be where He was. I am never alone. I am home, and He is too.
I cannot stress it enough —Ephesians 3:17. Our hearts matter to the Lord, and He is ever so desperate to make His home there, to share it with us, to occupy ever corner and space, to redesign, renovate, and remodel our inner most being — with Himself. He wants to repaint your walls, reorganize your furniture, etc. Our heart is our mind, emotion, and will — it’s our very person. He wants to make His home there, in us. Completely settle down in us. He wants to do more than take off His shoes. He wants to be one with us, think with us, walk and talk with us, do everything with and in us. He wants to give us nothing other than Himself.
some verses that came to mind and inspired this:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)
“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear My words. So I went down to the potter’s house, and he was there doing work at his wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand; so he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good for the potter to make. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Am I not able to do with you, O house of Israel, as this potter does? declares Jehovah. Indeed, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so you are in My hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:2-6)
“O Jehovah, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; / You understand my thoughts from afar.” (Psalm 139:1-2)
“Where shall I go, away from Your Spirit, / And where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; / If I make my bed in Sheol, there You are. If I take the wings of the dawn / And settle at the limits of the sea, There also Your hand will lead me, / And Your right hand will take hold of me. And if I say, Surely darkness will cover me, / And the light around me will be night; Even the darkness is not dark to You, / And night shines like day; / The darkness is like the light.” (Psalm 139:7-12)
“For it was You who formed my inward parts; / You wove me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am awesomely and wonderfully made; / Your works are wonderful, / And my soul knows it well. My frame was not hidden from You / When I was made in secret, / Skillfully fashioned in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; / And in Your book all of them were written: / The days that were ordained for me, / When not one of them was yet. And how precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! / How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more than the sand. / When I awake, I am still with You.” (Psalm 139:13-18)
“For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
“Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,” (Ephesians 1:4-5)
“You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; / You have ravished my heart with one glance of your eyes, / With one strand of your necklace.” (Song of Songs 4:9)
“His eyes are like doves / Beside the streams of water, / Bathed in milk, / Fitly set.” (Song of Songs 5:12)
“For your Maker is your Husband; / Jehovah of hosts is His name. / And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; / He is called the God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:5)
“Whom do I have in heaven but You? / And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth.” (Psalm 73:25)
We all have these hidden compartments within us, things we treasure and secretly store, and are too ashamed to show Him. The question is not if we have them, but if would we allow Him?
My one piece of advice? He already knows. He knows and wants to settle into that exact corner, avenue, and piece of your heart. What does this look like? Have those ugly, uncomfortable conversations with Him. No pretense, no filter. He knows what’s there, what’s in you that you are not even aware of, and there — still there, He desires there to be.
Let Him in. Allow Him. Your Father always knows.
My prayer after writing this:
A guest no more You would be in me
I allow You to take up space, fill, and occupy me
No, never withhold Yourself from being given to me
Settle down, make Your home in me
(More of Thee, I long for more of Thee)
—
Empty me
Even of what I think of me
Even of what I want to be
Even of what others think me to be
Even of what I think I see
Even of things I cannot see
Come, take all from me
Cause Your love for me
To give exclusive love to Thee
My Love, I pray
Empty me.
“To His Bride,” - (Eric Gilmour)
—
hymn #1068
He washed the bleeding sin-wounds,
And poured in oil and wine;
He whispered to assure me,
“I’ve found thee, thou art Mine:”
I never heard a sweeter voice,
It made my aching heart rejoice.
—
hymn #428:
O Lord, Thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
Oh, knit my thankful heart to Thee,
And reign without a rival there;
Thine wholly, Thine alone I am;
Lord, with Thy love my heart inflame.
Oh, grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell but Thy pure love alone;
Oh, may Thy love possess me whole,
My joy, my treasure, and my crown;
All coldness from my heart remove;
May every act, word, thought, be love.
O Love, how cheering is Thy ray,
All pain before Thy presence flies;
Care, anguish, sorrow, melt away,
Where’er Thy healing beams arise;
Lord Jesus, nothing may I see,
And naught desire, or seek, but Thee
O Lord, Thy boundless love to me (SoundCloud)
Welcome home, Lord. We want You to settle down in us. We allow You and make room for You. Have Your rightful position in us. Welcome home, Lord.
This is touching, creative, beautiful and we'll written. May the preciousness of what you've seen be your reality until the end! Thank you for sharing!!
I invite You in! Spend this day with me, Lord