Building Homes, Building Hope

A Habitat for Humanity Groundbreaking in Acton

On a cold and dreary November morning, I had the privilege of participating in something truly special—a groundbreaking ceremony for Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts's newest project in Acton. What made this particularly significant was that for the first time in their history, Habitat NCM will be building three homes in one location, at the site of the former Le Lyonaisse Restaurant on Great Road.

The ceremony brought together an extraordinary convergence of community support. State Senator Jamie Eldridge joined us, along with volunteers, board members, and representatives from partner organizations. Most meaningful to me was sharing this moment with Rev. Fran Graveson from the Boxborough UCC Church. Both Acton Congregational and the Boxborough UCC are Covenant Churches with Habitat NCM, and our congregations have been faithful supporters of Habitat's mission for years, providing both financial support and volunteer work teams.

In preparing for this blessing, I found myself reflecting on the profound connection between homes and the sacred. In most major religious traditions, heaven itself is described in the language of home. We all know that homes can be broken places, hard places, bruising places.

But at their best, homes are where we glimpse the kingdom of God right here, right now.

Jesus used the image of a house built on rock as his metaphor for security, strength, courage, and fruitful living. We build homes together to build lives together—a family's, and our own.

At the ceremony, we blessed the work that was beginning. We blessed Habitat for showing up, for being willing to do the hard work and have the tough conversations, for being careful stewards to make these homes possible. We blessed the volunteers who would give their time, endure scraped hands and sore muscles, make sacrifices so that all might have roofs over their heads. We blessed them for their hope—for their willingness to work for what can be instead of settling for what has been, for modeling how, when we work together, we are indeed better.

And we blessed the three families who will partner with Habitat in this endeavor, asking that their new homes be filled with laughter and love, good weather and good friends.

It was deeply moving to reconnect with Curt Logee, now President of Habitat NCM and their Faith Outreach Coordinator, who has seen firsthand how communities of faith can be transformative partners in this work. His enthusiasm for this project—Habitat's first three-home build—was contagious.

As I stood there that morning, looking at the site where three families will soon build their futures, I was reminded that a blessing is our way of saying: "This work you do, this life you live, it is sacred and important. We are glad for it. We are glad for you. And you are not alone in it."

May the work we do together build as much character as callouses, so that what rises on this site will be not just houses, but homes—one tiny plot of the Peaceable Kingdom, here on Earth as it is in heaven.

Blessings,

Rev. Karen