Happy Homes Are Built on a Solid Foundation

Published May 4, 1989. Last fall my neighbor Kim Anderson invited two of my sons and me to go fishing to Otto Creek Reservoir in southern Utah.  We got in Kim’s pickup at 5 a.m. and headed for Otto Creek with his new boat in tow. Kim and I rode in the front seat on the way down and my sons slept on a mattress in the back of the camper on his pickup. We were all excited to go fishing.

It was a three-hour ride from Orem to Otto Creek, and on the way down Kim and I talked. Kim is a home builder by profession and owner of Kim Anderson construction. He has worked on numerous homes in the Utah Valley area. And he is good, among the best. Last year, Kim won the 1988 Utah Valley Home Builders Award for “Best Finished Craftsmanship.”

During the ride to Otto Creek, we talked about the building profession. Kim noted that many prospective homeowners do not understand the process by which a home is built. A home, he said, is built brick by brick, one step at a time. Many future homeowners often show up at the construction site and impatiently expect a home to be constructed in a short time.

Kim also talked about the conflict that sometimes arises during construction. Somehow, things don’t always go as planned when building a home. To deal with the problems that inevitably arise, builders have to be skilled in communicating with suppliers, fellow workers, and the people for whom they build. The inability of all concerned to express their thoughts, feelings, and even frustrations can often cause costly delays and problems when building a home.

The thing that impressed me most, however, about our discussion was what Kim said about building on a solid foundation. My neighbor stated that no matter how well a home is planned on the blueprints, no matter the skill and expertise of the builders or the quality of the materials, the home must be built on a solid foundation. If a house is not built on a firm foundation, little else matters.

As we approached Otto Creek Reservoir, we also talked about building another kind of home, the kind involving husbands, wives, and children. We agreed that the foundations on which many people in this area try to build their homes are their religious values. We both agreed that is how we would like our homes to be built. There was no pretense to perfection during that early hour in the morning. But at least our stated desires were that our Christian beliefs and practices be the foundation on which we build our homes.

When we returned home that night, I recalled my discussion with Kim on building. Later, I opened the Bible and read, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).