Posted Aug 1, 2024
By GRANT BROMLEY
The Siler family hasn't moved in yet, but they've already had company over.
In this case, company was a host of familiar faces from Habitat For Humanity of Cleveland, who helped bring about the family of five's Aug. 6 move-in day.
With rising temperatures and the chance for rain, everyone gathered in the living room of the Siler household for a home dedication — the "sweat equity" having already been chipped in.
Beaming, she added, "I painted this whole house."
Doranda's grandmother, who raised her, lived in a Habitat home herself, and she recalled, "We helped build that house, and that made me want a house like that for my family … I'm just so happy."
Now, full circle, she and her four children had an opportunity to fellowship with those who had joined them on their journey toward having a place of their own to call home.
Among them were Father Mike Nolan, a board member of Habitat; and Pastor Bob Zwarych, who customarily presents new Habitat homeowners with a Bible.
Also present was Pastor James Sears, of Mt. Olive Church of God, who offered some remarks at the home dedication.
"As I was driving over here, I was thinking about what it means to have a home and what it means to be a family," Sears said. "I was reminded of a passage of Scripture that God gave the children of Israel in the Old Testament as a path for how they were to live their life."
Prefacing that this passage he had in mind, from Deuteronomy 6:5-9, "speaks of the importance of not just family, but what it means to have a home," Sears began reading the verse which Jesus famously quoted in his ministry, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength."
Continuing, he read, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Looking up from the Scripture, Sears told the Silers, "The house that you will be living in has not only been soaked in prayer for several months, but, inside, it has Scriptures and words of encouragement and life-giving words. This is more than a house. This is a home, and it's a home that God has helped provide."
He then led them in prayer, asking that the Lord keep His hand on the Siler home.
"May this be a constant reminder that you are with them every step of the way. That this is not the finish of a season, but, God, this is just the beginning."
This home is the 160th home built by Habitat For Humanity of Cleveland, and Alan Goslen, a core construction volunteer with Habitat, spoke on why he contributes his time and energy to such endeavors.
"We do it because of love of Christ," Goslen declared. "We do it because of what we see it does for families like the Silers."
