There is no place like H. O. M. E. says recent grad

To the House of Mercy Enterprises and the Residents that reside here:

Hi, my name is Meagan Munsell, and I live in the House of Mercy. To an outsider looking in that just might be it, it’s the House of Mercy. To an outsider looking in it’s just an old nursing home with a bunch of druggies living here. To an outsider looking in we’re “those people”. I feel bad for the outsider, though. Because the House of Mercy means so much more. It means home, it means family, it means a safe haven. An outsider doesn’t get to see the connections, the love, the way we really are a family. A crazy, dysfunctional family. Just like all families, we fight and we make up, we share triumphs and heartbreak, we share laughs, and we make memories.

I walked into the house thinking the Bible was a fairytale, and while it held great stories, that’s all it was for me. Slowly overtime, I came to know Jesus as my personal savior. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ Jesus that lives within me. The life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God. Who loved me, and gave his life for me.”

I am only nineteen, though. I have my whole life left to live, and I deserve to live it to the best of my ability. Because I am so young, I will make mistakes along the way. But now I have the tools I need so if I make those mistakes, my whole world won’t fall apart. I can say, though, that I am a completely different person from stepping in the house. I believed lies, and found the truth to replace them. I didn’t think I was worthy, but I found my identity in Christ. I found that I am a child of God, with an inheritance in heaven.  

I do have a plan. I’d have to be crazy to walk out of this house without one. I’ll go home, get a job, an apartment, go back to college. All with my parents help, of course. I am excited for my future!

To the residents here, there will be those of you who come and go, in and out of the house. Be kind to one another and love one another just as Christ loves you. Don’t be ashamed or afraid to be a broken vessel. God loves to use them. He will fill you up with his unconditional, everlasting love. If you fall, get back up. Don’t ever think you don’t deserve to live a purposeful life. You will find that in Christ. You’re never too old or too young to follow God. Enjoy your time in the house while you’re here. Just like the great Andrew Bernard once said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you left them.”  

I will never have another experience like this in my life. However, I will look back on my time in this house with fondness and carry the people I met here in my heart. I hope for all of you, you make connections that will last a lifetime. Just as I know they will for me.  

I thank God everyday for each and every one of you. You are my brothers and my sisters. Some of you are my closest friends. I know this seems like good-bye, but I’m not really good at those and it isn’t really. It’s more like, I’ll see you guys later...  

Thank you for everything. I owe everything back to God.  

In love,  

Meg