A Place To Call Home
by David Black, SBC Director
RECENTLY I TOOK a trip into the heart of North Carolina. There nestled among the rolling hills of that beautiful state is a place that is very dear to me. It is the place I call "home." I have called many other places"home" in my life but none are as fond to me. This is where I grew up. I can just drive up the winding driveway and years of memories flood my mind. You know what I am talking about because as you have been reading this, your mind was already taking you back to that special place you call "home."
Truly there is no place like home. In a world filled with uncertainty there is a quiet comfort in going home. Here in South Florida amidst the bugs and stifling heat of the summer, we have tried to create a place that many call"home." Sea Breeze Community is home for many leaders from across the IHC movement. Many retired ministers and missionaries call this place "home." It is home to Hobe Sound Bible College and Hobe Sound Bible Church. It is home to Sea Breeze Camp and Hope International Missions. It is home to Christian day school teachers and college professors. It is home to parents who have come to put their children in a school where they can receive a Christian-based education.
However, I am aware that just because you reside in a house on these grounds it may not make this place home.
The stories of peoples' lives interwoven into the fabric of this place have made it home to many through the years.
What makes this community a home?
I think there are three basic components that can turn any place into a home.
- Memories: I've listened as some people talk of the canals and the buildings on campus with great fondness, while others only talk about the bugs, the speed bumps, and the potholes. To one, SBC is home; to the other it is just a place to live. Memories make this place a home. Memories of days filled with difficulties but also with joy; days when people sensed God's blessings upon their lives and knew they were here fulfilling God's will. These memories bonded them to this place even if all of them weren't the most pleasant.
- Relationships: Home is where the heart is, but the heart is attached to a place because of the people who lived there. I can close my eyes, even if I am half way around the world, and instantly bring back clear pictures of Mother standing in the kitchen of our old home place preparing the evening meal. She never disappointed us with the meals she prepared for her five boys. I can see Dad on the tractor preparing the garden for planting as clearly as if I were standing there physically. It is the people that make a place a home.
- Emotions: Memories about the people that connect you to a place opens a floodgate of emotions – emotions that move us to tears or laughter, feelings of fear or comfort. Thoughts of home should bring a sense of joy and comfort.
It is these same three things that make Sea Breeze Community a home.
If you connect with the right people, you will discover the memories - good and bad - that helped make this place home to a lot of people.
The stories of peoples' lives interwoven into the fabric of this place have made it home to many through the years - a home to such great leaders as H. Robb French, S.D. Herron, Ponder Frederick, Robert Whitaker, and many more.
It is the emotions evoked by the memories of this place and the people who have lived here that cause some to call this place "home!"
We ask you to help us continue to make SBC a place to call "home." When you come to stay on these grounds as a visitor, or as a winter or year round resident, you help us build good memories, connect with other people, and build strong relationships that produce good and strong emotions – it will eventually cause you and your children to call this place "home."
