Last week my trip to Tulsa included a visit with friends in the community I lived in prior to my move to Frisco. Sharon and I joined up for an early morning walk as we did so often when I lived there. We recalled praying for our community on those walks and called our Hyde Park, Holy Property. I’m amazed as I see the once barren land when I built my home, to where there are so many residents and beautiful homes built there today.
We met up with another neighbor, Deborah, whose husband recently passed away and she, like me, understands he completed his earth-assignment and now she knows she has her own assignment to fulfill. I knew a blog was on its way because her story inspired me so much.
Deborah’s dear husband suffered from Alzheimer's for many years which meant Deborah had to quit her full-time job to be at home to give him the care he needed. In that season, she started a home acquisition company where she buys homes, renovates and flips them shortly thereafter. Her acquisition company is called HAMP which is an acronym for “His Assets My Pleasure”. The name of her building and remodeling business is called Honey Bee Homes. She said: “It’s pure and natural.” The meaning of “Deborah” is Honey Bee. She said: “This is a restoration business just like Jesus had.”
Deborah meant it's a home AND people restoration business. “I bought a home in not such a great part of town. It needed a lot of attention, but I acquired it anyway. One day, a man riding a bike stopped by the house and asked if I needed help. She asked, “What is your expertise?” He replied, “I can do anything.” She gave him a tour of the house and all the things that needed to be done. What he couldn’t do, he said: “I have a friend that can do this part and another friend that can do that part.” She hired all three men. Only one had a vehicle – a beat-up truck that kept breaking down. One day it ran out of gas. Deborah got a gas container and took him the gas. The other two men rode bicycles. They helped her She helped them. Deborah said, “I took them crockpot meals, Krispy Kremes and I kept a left-over refrigerator stocked with water for them. I took lunch to them and sometimes I took them out to lunch. You could tell on their faces that they were really impressed – that I would take them to a nice restaurant.” These men had been in jail and with a record, it was difficult to find jobs. The restorer of homes and people, she gifted them with dignity and pride as they were completely willing to put in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
Deborah said these men were raised in lifestyles where they had to learn and do everything. All from different descents and different expertise, they worked well together. The house had been abused and in such disrepair that they had to gut most of it -- taking out all the floors and putting in new joist and floors. During the winter it was so cold outside for the 8-mile bicycle rider who lived with his Mom. Deborah set him up with a heater and a bed in the home. It worked out well because in that part of town she needed someone to look over the house anyway.
She added: “I just sold the house last week. I bought it for $40,000 and sold it for $122,000. But I had a $100K in it and I was able to give them work. I loved Deborah’s “ashes to beauty” story. She could have been a widow who refused to live out her destiny. But she didn’t. She gave formerly incarcerated men jobs for the same reasons as everyone else: to support themselves and their loved ones, pursue life goals, and strengthen their communities. God has used her to live on purpose. She yielded to God’s words from Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” She knows those words for herself and for others.
We serve a God of restoration! You, too, may have had some disappointments or unfair things happen in your life; but instead of dwelling on the past and living in defeat, choose to focus on His promises because God wants to restore you with beauty for your ashes. He wants to restore your joy, your peace, your health, and your finances. Draw a line in the sand and say, “I am a child of the Most High God, and I’m not going to live my life in defeat. This is a new day, and I’m taking back what belongs to me!” That’s having a restoration mentality!
Indeed, like Jesus, Deborah is in the restoration business – restoring homes and people’s lives. Maybe that's the business we should all be in -- loving, caring and restoring the lives of God's precious children.
