This post was originally published on April 1, 2013.
The number one question I get asked in regards to the business is, “Why is it called Hurley House?” Most people assume my name is Katherine Hurley and that the business is named after me, but that isn’t the case. The short answer is our family lived in a beautiful historic home on Hurley Avenue, and the name “Hurley House” is a direct call-back to our time in that home.
I find that the short answer, while efficient, really doesn’t do the story justice. It’s such a good story, and such a huge part of the heart behind not only the business, but also the way my husband and I live our life, that I think it is worth telling. I hope you agree.
We never intended to live in the house on Hurley for more than a year. After quickly selling our home in another part of town, the rental home on Hurley Avenue was intended to be a brief hitching post for our family while we decided where we wanted to live long term.
The home was breathtaking, bigger than anything we had ever lived in. The halls were expansive, splayed out with gleaming wooden floors and accentuated with crown moulding and trim. The bathrooms were spacious, full of penny tile, pedestal sinks, and claw foot tubs. There were wooden windows in every room, bathing each space in beautiful light. It was dreamy.
When given all this space, much more than our family needed, our response was to find ways to put it to good use to serve others. I love to cook, and nothing made us happier than having people gather around our table. So we threw open doors and invited others in to live life with us.
We hosted fifty college Young Life leaders every Sunday evening for a homemade dinner and plenty of meeting space.
We hosted Bible Studies in our living room, and brewed a lot of coffee.
We met a very special TCU student named Rachel who needed a family and a place to live, so we put our extra bedroom to good use and invited her to live with us.
Along the way, with all of those people sharing space in our home, coming and going and meeting together, our home became knows as The Hurley House. And so, the name was born, taking on a life of its own.
I still get a little weepy when I recall our years at the Hurley House. Yes, the home was lovely. But it wasn’t the walls or the windows that made our time there exquisite. It was the way of life, of opening and welcoming others, of giving out of abundance only to discover there was always an abundance waiting in return, of watching the space become a place of healing and connection…simply because we welcomed others in and created a space for them.
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