The House That Stayed Warm

In 2019, Margaret Chen sold her home in Portland after forty-three years and moved into assisted living. Her daughter, Lisa, dreaded the emptiness that would follow. But when Lisa walked through the house one last time, she found something unexpected. Taped inside the kitchen cabinet was a note in her mother's handwriting: "The rice needs exactly six minutes. I love you." Inside the hall closet, another: "Your father proposed to me right here, 1974." Behind the bathroom mirror: "You are braver than you believe, sweet girl."

Margaret had hidden thirty-seven notes throughout the house — her voice lingering in every room, her presence woven into the walls themselves.

This is what Jesus promises in John 14:23-29. He does not simply wave goodbye and wish His disciples well. He tells them, "We will come to them and make Our home with them." The Father and Son take up permanent residence in the life of every believer. And then He sends the Holy Spirit — the Advocate — who teaches and reminds, who whispers truth into the ordinary rooms of our daily lives.

The peace Christ offers is not the world's fragile version, easily shattered by circumstance. It is the peace of someone who has moved in and is not leaving. The Almighty does not visit His people. He dwells with them — note by note, room by room, until every corner of their lives carries the warmth of His presence.