A Story That Started Before You

Have you ever thought you were starting something…only to discover you were actually stepping into something God had started long before you arrived? That’s exactly what happened to Carmen and me. For months, everything about Chateau Mariposa felt new – Our dream, our renovation, our vision, our adventure. We were pouring ourselves into restoring this old house and imagining what it could someday become. But God was about to introduce us to someone who would completely change the way we looked at this place. This is about a story that started before you…a story that started before us.

And it all started…with our very first guests.

1 Peter 2:6

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.

Ready…Enough

Before we could fully live at Chateau Mariposa, we had one more major project.

The guest suite.

When Carmen first walked into what would eventually become our little 450-square-foot home, she looked around and said,

“It’s got potential.”

I looked at the cracked drywall, the cracked concrete floors, and the dangling light fixture. Exposed wiring, a questionable support beam, and the unmistakable smell of years of garage life.

“Sure,” I said. “Potential…in the same way a rusted-out car has potential if you replace every single part.”

Carmen wasn’t deterred. One evening, we sat down with a notebook and began listing everything that needed to happen. Eventually she needed a second page.

I needed a second cup of coffee.

Somewhere between plumbing, electrical, walls, bathroom, kitchenette, laundry room, flooring, ceiling, making an exterior door disappear, and French doors and air conditioning, I finally said,

“Maybe we should just build a new house.”

Carmen smiled.

“Nope. We’re restoring this one, just like God restores people.”

Carmen has a way of doing that. I’m thinking drywall. She’s thinking discipleship.

From Waiting to Walking

Eventually, the suite was ready. It wasn’t yet perfect, but it was ready. And honestly…so were we. After years of waiting, moving, downsizing, and wondering what God was doing, we finally moved onto the property.

In five years, we’d gone from approximately 4,000 square feet…

to 780…

to 720…

and now…450.

Apparently God’s plan for our lives included increasingly smaller closets. But something had changed. We weren’t downsizing life. We were upgrading peace.

This move felt different. Previous moves had often felt like survival. This one felt like purpose.

It felt as though we were finally moving from waiting into walking—from preparing for what God might do into actually living it.

And then came another milestone – Our first booking.

Someone Actually Booked It!

We must have refreshed the Airbnb app a hundred times. For clarification, Airbnb is a platform. Our place is a short-term vacation rental that we happen to market on a platform called Airbnb. Okay, carry on…

Then one afternoon…there it was.

“Babe!” “We have our first booking!”

After more than two years of renovating, cleaning, painting, spending money, and occasionally wondering whether anyone would actually want to stay here…

…someone did. Then I read the reservation.

“Five young women. Birthday celebration. Decorations.” Oh no!

My excitement immediately turned into…concern. We weren’t living on the property yet. My imagination went into overdrive…

• Wild party?
• Angry neighbors?
• Damage?
• Police?
• Would Chateau Mariposa survive its very first guests?

It’s amazing how quickly our minds can create stories…that never actually happen.

The women were wonderful. They respected the property. They loved their stay. And before leaving…they gave us our first five-star review.

Five little stars. I couldn’t believe how much they meant. They felt like confirmation. Maybe… just maybe… this crazy dream was going to work.

Then Came the Comment

The women posted pictures from their weekend on social media. And their friends started commenting…

• “Beautiful place.”
• “Where is this?”
• “We need to book this!”

Carmen and I loved watching the responses. Then…one comment stopped us cold.

A woman had seen the pictures and written:

“That’s the house my grandfather designed, and my parents built. I helped nail many of those beams together while it was being built.”

I looked at Carmen. Carmen looked at me.

“Did you just read what I read?”

Of all the people who could have seen those pictures…somehow…

Charlene had.

The daughter of the family who built our house. The granddaughter of the man who designed it. Carmen knew immediately. She had to meet her.

The Woman Who Knew the House Before We Did

Carmen invited Charlene to visit. Can you imagine what that must have felt like? Pulling into the driveway of a home filled with childhood memories. Walking through a doorway you hadn’t entered in years. Seeing rooms that had changed…and others that somehow still felt familiar.

Charlene began telling stories. Stories about her family, stories about helping her father build the house, and stories hidden inside those walls that we could never have known.

At one point, she stopped at our massive front door and gently ran her hand across it. Carmen had loved that door from the moment we first saw the house. Then Charlene smiled,

“Do you know the story behind this door?”

Carmen didn’t, of course. Apparently, when the house was being built, money was tight. Charlene’s father gave her mother a choice:

“Air conditioning…or the front door?”

She chose the door. Florida. No air conditioning. But…one amazing front door.

Suddenly Carmen loved it even more. And then Charlene said something that changed the entire visit,

“I brought something.”

The Scrapbook

Charlene walked to her car and returned carrying a scrapbook. They sat down together. She opened it. And suddenly…

we were watching our house being born…

• Foundation.
• Concrete.
• Blocks.
• Framing.
• Roof.
• Family.
• Construction.
• Photograph after photograph.
• People we had never met were building the place we now called home.

Then…Charlene turned another page. There it was.

The cornerstone.

Underneath the photograph was Scripture:

1 Peter 2:6

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.

I had to let that sink in.

Carmen and I had walked this property praying that God would use it. We had prayed over the house. We prayed over the land. And we prayed that people would experience peace here. And now we were discovering…

someone had been praying here long before us.

This house had been built on Scripture. But God wasn’t finished connecting the dots.

A Message From 1936

Tucked inside the scrapbook was something else. A message written by Charlene’s grandfather—the architect who would eventually design this house. The date?

December 15, 1936.

The title was:

“Building Your Mansion.”

His message wasn’t really about constructing houses. It was about constructing a life. He wrote about Jesus’ teaching on treasure. Giving ourselves. Prayer. Devotion. Serving God. Giving to others. Building something that lasts beyond this life.

Decades later, his family would build a house based on those values.

And decades after that…Carmen and I were sitting inside that same house reading his words – 90 years later.

I couldn’t escape the thought:

God had been writing this story long before we arrived.

Maybe It Was Never Ours

Something shifted for me that day. Until then, I think I had subconsciously thought of Chateau Mariposa as ours. Our house, our dream, our vision, and our ministry.

But sitting with Charlene changed that. We hadn’t started this story. And someday…we wouldn’t be the ones finishing it either. We were simply the people God had entrusted with it for this chapter.

That changed the word I used. From ownership…to stewardship.

Ownership asks:

“What do I want to do with this?”

Stewardship asks:

“God, why have You entrusted this to me?”

Those are two very different questions.

The Cornerstone Was Already There

Looking back, I don’t think it was a coincidence that our first guests played such an important role in this story.

Those five young women gave us confidence about the future.

Charlene gave us an appreciation for the past.

One said…

“Keep going.”

The other quietly reminded us…

“Remember where this started.”

Together, they helped us understand something we had missed. We thought we were restoring a house. God was inviting us to continue a story. This house had been born from Scripture. Designed by a man who loved God. Built by a family willing to sacrifice.

Then…it went through some difficult years…

• It sat neglected.
• It was abused.
• Nearly forgotten.
• Then restored.
• Opened to strangers.
• Filled again with laughter.
• Prayer.
• Celebration.
• Love.

That’s more than real estate. That’s redemption.

And perhaps the most humbling realization of all was this:

We thought we were laying a new foundation at Chateau Mariposa. Turns out…we were standing on one that had already been laid.

Your Everyday Life

I wonder if the same thing might be true in your life. We spend a lot of time asking:

“What am I going to build?”

My career, family, ministry, business, or maybe my legacy. But maybe that’s not the best question. Maybe the better question is:

“God, what have You entrusted to me?”

Maybe someone prayed before you arrived. Maybe…someone sacrificed, invested, planted seeds, and maybe someone else built part of the foundation you’re standing on today.

And perhaps your assignment isn’t to own it. It’s to steward it. To care for it. Add your part. Strengthen what needs strengthening. And someday…hand it to someone else.

Because ultimately…the story isn’t ours. It’s His. And it’s the Goodness of God…

Challenge of the Week

This week, identify one thing in your life that you regularly call “mine.” My…

• Family.
• Home.
• Business.
• Ministry.
• Money.
• Influence.
• Abilities.

Then change one word. Instead of saying:

“God, what do You want me to do with my ______?”

Ask:

“God, why have You entrusted this to me?”

And then listen. Maybe you’re not beginning the story. Maybe…you’re simply the next faithful caretaker of something God started long before you arrived. So be it.

Note:

What is your journey like? My journey started like a parallel journey to the Prodigal Son – Luke 15. Jump in my journey with me, now 14 weeks along, and see what your journey looks like as we walk life together. Here are the links where you can go back and jump into the journey with me:

• When Love Found Me – This is the introduction to it all.
• Before Love Found Me – God was pursuing me before I knew it.
• God at a Distance – I was looking in the wrong places.
• When God Broke In – God met me in my brokenness.
• After the Tears – Following Jesus became a shared journey.
• Packing Up Faith – Obedience required leaving the familiar.
• Making Room – God transformed our home into a place where others could encounter His love.
• Trusting God’s Hand – Even when it doesn’t make sense.
• When You Think You Need One More Miracle – and no matter what, God does it again!
• From Waiting to Wonder – Sometimes God does His greatest work in places we can’t wait to get out of.
• When God Colors Outside Of The Lines – Creating our own boundaries and limiting God.
• This Is The Way – God is whispering to you, “This is the way, follow Me.”
• Seeing What Others Can’t – When God shows you something that others can’t see…yet.
• Redeeming The Ruins – Where we see ruins, God sees redemption. Discover how He transforms broken places into something beautifully new.