Where home begins 

As we step into May, I find myself returning to a question that feels both simple and profound: Where does home begin? 

We talk about home in many ways — a place we live, a feeling we carry, the people who steady us and remind us who we are. But the more I’ve sat with it, the more I’m realizing that home didn’t begin with us at all. 

Home has an origin and that origin matters more than we might think. 

 
A home created first 

In the opening pages of Scripture, before there were families, before there were systems or structures, God did something deeply intentional: He created a home. 

Before humanity ever took its first breath, a place was prepared — a garden, filled with provision, beauty and presence. This wasn’t rushed or improvised, it was thoughtfully formed. 

It’s striking when you slow down long enough to see it. God didn’t create people and then figure out where they would belong. He created a place of belonging first. 

Home, in its truest definition, was always part of His design. And that reframes something for me. Home is not simply something we build over time. It’s something we were created for from the very beginning. 

 
More than a place 

We often say that home is more than a place. And the more I’ve reflected on that, the more I’m realizing how true it really is, not just as an idea, but as something we all feel. Because home has always been connected to presence. 

In the garden, God didn’t just create a physical environment. He created a space where He would dwell with His people — where there was connection, safety and peace. That’s what made it home. 

And that’s what we’re still longing for today. Not just structure, not just stability, but the kind of presence that allows a person to exhale. The kind of environment where hearts can begin to settle, where identity can take root and where healing can unfold over time. 

 
What this means for us 

When we begin to see home this way, it changes how we approach the work in front of us. At 4KIDS, we are not simply responding to needs as they arise. We are stepping into something far more sacred. We are participating in the restoration of what home was always meant to be. 

Yes, that includes preparing physical spaces, it includes supporting families and it includes walking alongside children with care, consistency and patience. But it also means helping to create environments where presence is felt, where safety is restored and where a child can begin to rediscover what it means to be known and valued. 

In many ways, we are helping to reintroduce the experience of home, not just as a place, but as something deeper, something whole. 

 
Home for every child 

This is why we continue to move toward a vision of home for every child. Not simply placement, and not simply a temporary solution, but the fuller expression of home — where a child experiences stability, connection, identity and healing over time. 

Because when we understand where home begins, we begin to see that it was never meant to be limited; it is something every child was created to experience. 

 
An invitation for May 

May is National Foster Care Month, and it’s always a meaningful time for us as an organization. 

It’s a time to pause and reflect, to pray, and to consider how each of us might take a step toward extending home to others. 

That step can look different for each person. For some, it may be opening your home. For others, it may be supporting families who are already doing so. For many, it may be giving, serving or simply choosing to stay engaged in the work. 

But at its core, the invitation is the same: to participate in something that began long before us. To reflect the heart of a God who created home with intention, and to help extend that reality to children and families in our own community. 
Because when we understand where home begins, we can begin to bring home to others. 

 Since September 2024, Andrew Holmes has been serving as the President of 4KIDS–a ministry that provides Hope, Homes, and Healing to kids and families in crisis. Learn more and catch the vision of a home for every child at 4KIDS.us.

For more Good News, read the GOOD NEWS May 2026 Issue at: https://digital.goodnewsfl.org/2026/may/