Holmes Habitat for Humanity celebrates No. 41 with Chew family

Lachlan Chew, a rambunctious 3-year-old boy and son of Ethen and Cecilia Chew, proved one doesn’t have to be an adult to put their mark on a Habitat for Humanity home.

Holmes County Habitat for Humanity celebrated its 41st home build on Feb. 4, when friends and family of the Chews gathered in Holmesville to dedicate their new home.

Young Lachlan made sure he dedicated the home in his own way.

The memories for the Chews are already beginning to blossom like pages in a scrapbook.

Linda Campbell, president of Holmes Habitat, said even as the home was just a series of wooden studs, she recalls the kids eagerly running through the shell claiming their own rooms.

“Ethen had just finished painting a wall when Lachlan came running in, put his hands on the wall and ran them down the wall,” Campbell said. “I bet that was hard to repaint that. Somehow Ethen found joy in that moment while many would have found frustration.”

Even during the dedication, the sound of the children and their friends romping around in the bedrooms as the adult talk took place in the kitchen provided a fitting background to the celebration because it exemplified the very idea that the house was now a home.

“I’m so happy this family is already finding so many good memories,” Campbell said.

Campbell offered the welcome and introduction of partners and the family, and Matt Rowe, pastor at Mercy Hill, then provided the scripture reading for the home dedication.

He said it seemed like only a few weeks ago everyone gathered for the initial groundbreaking, and he praised all involved for quickly and expertly erecting the new house.

Rowe then turned to the book of Joshua, where he talked about how people would make pillars and monuments honoring how God had blessed them.

He said after the Israelites entered the Promised Land, each of the 12 tribes gathered large rocks and piled them together.

“I look at this house that way,” Rowe said. “We’ve had a lot of different hands in the building of this house to do what God wants to do in the Chews’ lives. My prayer is that the community will see that as Ethen and Cecilia follow the Lord and instruct their kids. This home will be a monument of that. My prayer is that as they call this home, that they will be serving Jesus and they will be an example to their kids, to the community, and that this house, this monument, will be used to the glory of God.”

Laura McCarney presented Bibles to each family member and said while she was thinking about the family, she could see each member’s character, noting Proverbs 24:3-4, which states a house is built on wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.

“What makes a house a home?” she said. “It’s not the ceiling, the siding, the windows, the floor. It’s the people who are inside of it. It’s the friends, the families and the memories that have already been made.”

She also shared a memory of when the home was nearing completion when the appliances were being installed. The sun shown through the window, casting a shadow of a small handprint from one of the children.

“That handprint is already filling this place with precious and valuable things,” she said. “I hope you get the privilege to clean many more handprints and they remind you of this fresh start.”

Pete Hilty then completed the ceremony with the presentation of the hammer and keys, signifying the united effort of the building process.

Ethen Chew works as a service and production coordinator for Right Mark Roofing while Cecilia Chew is a stay-at-home mom who dedicates herself to raising their children Lilah and Lachlan.

“It’s been a pretty surreal process,” Ethen Chew said. “I remember standing in this spot when it was just studded walls with no drywall, and now we stand here and it’s an incredible experience filled with great emotion. We had a few hiccups along the way, but it’s been a wonderful time in our lives and the beginning of something special.”

The Chew home is already filled with special things, from the love of family and friends to Lilah’s closet, chocked full of princess clothes.

Holmes Habitat is already preparing for home build No. 42, one that holds special meaning because that family will be Cary and Zari Marks and their children Delilah and Atticus. It was Cary’s parents who were the recipients of the very first home build from Holmes Habitat in 1995.