Inside God’s ‘House’ …

The residents of the His House women’s house count their blessings on a daily basis — despite that they are 10 ladies living together under one roof.

“There is a big sense of family that you get from here, and a unity you can’t get anywhere else,” said house leader Rachel Stone.

While some people on campus may opt for single bedrooms and as few roommates as financially possible, the women of His House, 1012 S. University Ave., said they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Stone said their living situation isn’t the norm, but it is positive.

“It’s a very unique living environment. Ten girls — that shouldn’t work, but it does,” said Stone, Midland junior.

The His House women’s house, which began in 1985, is one of five residences in Mount Pleasant occupied by members of the His House ministry. The women were selected to live there from a pool of candidates after an application and interview process.

This academic year is Claire Maurer’s first time living in the women’s house. After having spent two years in the residence halls with her own room, the Livonia junior now shares a room and has welcomed the company.

“Now, I can’t sleep without my roommate there,” Maurer said.

Even though the house is alive with the constant buzz of laughter, the women said there is one drawback to living in a house with 10 girls. They all love to talk.

“It’s really hard to study. We’re all really social people. You have to have a really good work ethic to go upstairs, shut your door and not come down when you hear everyone laughing,” Maurer said.

Stone said there is a lot of hang-out time. She said she can’t count the number of hours she’s spent chatting.

“We talk and then we talk and then we talk some more, and then we break into song and interpretative dance,” said Sarah Hendrick, Lapeer junior.

The women eat dinner together every Monday through Thursday at 5:15 p.m.

“The dinners are the best part of the day to talk to everybody and find out what happened during the day,” Hendrick said.

They take turns cooking the meal in pairs for the house, but Maurer, a self-confessed “bad cook,” said it doesn’t always guarantee a good meal.

“Every once in a while we get a really bad meal, but we eat it anyway,” she said.

Besides dinner, the women have set aside Monday nights as their weekly devotional time. Stone said devotionals, which can last almost three hours, are a time where they get together, pray and teach each other portions of the Bible. Given most of the women are involved in outside ministry teams, it is their time to come together as one house.

As much as the girls are there for one another, they also make it known they are there for the community as well. The house has an open-door policy for anyone who needs help ranging from prayer to mechanical assistance.

“If anybody is having a problem they can come in, and we can pray for them,” Stone said.

The girls said people are in and out of the house constantly, and about once a month someone they do not know will stop by randomly for help.

For most residents at the women’s house, living there has had a profound effect on their experience at CMU.

“This is my third college. If I wasn’t involved in this, I would have left again. I’ve grown so much in my walk. I never take this for granted. I’m never going to get a chance like this again,” Hendrick said.

Stone, now in her third year at the house, said she can’t imagine how different her CMU experience would have been without the more than 20 roommates she has had through His House.

“They truly are family. The more that I am here the more I realize I will go away from here forever changed because of the amazing people they are,” she said.

Though there are different reasons that the women live in the house, they agree on the one thing that makes their house a special place to live.

“This is his house. This is God’s house, and that’s why it’s so amazing,” Hendrick said.

Wendy Pearce, Lake Orion senior, said it is obvious that faith fills the house.

“When I walk in this house, I know God’s home. You see it on the other girls’ faces and you feel it in the air,” Pearce said.