places of
community
and grace
At the end of last summer, my husband Scott and I expe-
rienced a first. We enjoyed a two night stay at the Grand
Hotel on Mackinac Island. It was a memorable experience!
Did you know that the Grand Hotel has the longest porch
in the world at 660 feet in length? We sure enjoyed it! Each
night after dinner we sat on that porch taking in the view
and the cool evening breeze as the sun set and the stars
appeared. Beautiful! Unlike most of our hotel experiences,
it was amazing how many people we ended up talking to.
That large porch opened up to some very pleasant conver-
sations!
While there, my mind drifted back to the day when most
houses had porches on the front of the house, near the
sidewalk. Porches were a place of community. Before tele-
vision and video games, families sat on the front porch and
caught up with friends and neighbors as they walked by.
How far we have gone from days like that! I recently read
that there is actually a new urbanism movement in archi-
tecture which urges a reversal in this trend, recommending
a large front porch, to help build community ties. Our hu-
man desire for connection and community never dies!
When God created us in His image, He gave us a desire for
relationship, perfect relationship. Psalm 91 beautifully de-
clares that we find true rest in the shadow of the Almighty
(may I call it our Heavenly Father’s front porch?). God came
4
in flesh as the Prince of Peace, offering rest for our souls
as we are freed from the power of sin and restored to life
through Jesus. There is no greater joy than approaching
the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (He-
brews 4:16).
Jesus not only gives us the opportunity to sit on the porch
and rest with Him, He tells us we are to invite others onto
our porch where we can love them with God’s love. We
are His ambassadors in this world who can offer a taste
of God’s Kingdom to others. The Bible even goes a step
further by saying that the same God who reconciled us to
himself through Christ, gave us the ministry of reconcilia-
tion. He has committed to us His life-giving message as
though God were making His appeal through us! (2 Corin-
thians 5:17-21)
The only way we can make this appeal is through
relationships. We have to invite people into our lives, on to
the front porch where they can experience a taste of His
grace and love.
Summer gives us a unique opportunity to do that! We
emerge from our winter hibernation and begin to interact
with neighbors. We are given the unique opportunity to
connect with others God has placed around us and love