Pastor Lee Eclov shares the following personal story about how he had to rely on what his town called storm homes:

The small town of Britton, South Dakota where I grew up (current population of about 1,200 people and lots more cattle) has often been the locus of severe winter weather. During the harshest months, the temperature drops below zero, but historically the real danger has come from blizzards. The blizzards can develop quickly, causing the country roads to become snowbound and impassable. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, the local school district had a creative way for keeping kids safe when a blizzard hit on a school day. On a normal day, the school students would take one of the eight school busses directly to their house. But occasionally a blizzard would descend during the school day and it wasn't safe to bus the kids' home. So the school devised a system where every farm kid had a family in town who would be prepared to take them in. Their parents would know they were fed and safe in their neighbor's house.

A couple years ago, when I was home visiting Britton and the rural church where I grew up, one of my former neighbors, Roger Johnson, mentioned to me that our home in town had been his "storm home." That's what we called them: storm homes. Our little green house on 7th Street was Roger's refuge when a terrible storm came.

That is what every church is supposed to be—a storm home. By the grace of God, your church should be a safe place, a home that some people have never had. Here we are with the Jesus, the Good Shepherd and, incredibly, we embody him together when we're here and when we disperse into the harvest fields.