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The boxes and furniture have been
delivered to your new home and now set in a chaotic array in each room. In
spite of the mess, I see the beauty of potential. My creative mind busily
composes images of the arrangements, textiles, and unique pieces that will offer
such comfort and attractiveness to these open spaces and blank walls before me.
I eagerly wait to add the many touches that will help to transform the generic
townhome unit into something much more special- our home.
Yet, even with all these elements in
place a certain depth will remain missing. I could have all the decorative elements
and the utmost style in our home, but without the company of friends and family
the space will remain empty. The essence of a thriving home is more than the
materials that comprise it; it’s the people who join together within that
space.
This notion is not new, and is, in
fact, a commonly shared piece of wisdom. However, to some degree “home” remains
to have a negative connotation. Home is the place where we can take refuge from
the outside world, it’s our coveted storage space for all our dearly held
personal belongings, it’s the place we get “stuck” in when we have nowhere else
to go or no one with whom to go out. And for some, home is filled with so many
unsettling moments or people that associating it as a good in life can be a
challenge. With so many poor definitions of “home” existing, creating it into
something completely different may seem daunting. It’s not! Each new day is a
new opportunity to believe in the potential of home. There is so much depth and
meaningfulness that can be instill into our homes!
My heart for our home is for it to
be a place that not only brings comfort to my husband and I, but also to others.
Similarly, our space and possessions can serve others just as well as they
serve us. In her book Simple Secrets to a
Beautiful Home: Creating a Place You and Your Family Will Love Emily Barnes
says:
Welcome home! That’s what I want my life to say to everyone whose path
crosses mine. I want to create an atmosphere of serenity and joy, of blessing
and belonging, that embraces people (myself included) and draws them in—an
atmosphere that makes them feel loved and special and cared for. (page. 9)
Does this welcome and
service require a little more of us? Certainly! Is it worth it? Absolutely! A life and home without
welcome and service are regrettably missing something that truly enriches life.
It’s not always easy to practice hospitality, especially when it feels like a
faded practice among others. Nonetheless, I believe in the beauty of opening
the doors of my home to guests and will continue to strive to do so. Think of
it this way- could we spare one night each month to invite a family to enjoy
dinner, dessert or an activity together? That’s only twelve days out of three
hundred sixty five. Sounds a little more possible, right?
But
what if our homes are not decorated exactly like we’d want, or we don’t have
the right (or enough) pieces to serve or entertain many guests? Then, take a
breath and refocus yourself on the people not the possessions. Your guests are
there to spend time with you, not
necessarily your things. In fact, when they are there don’t even mention what
is not as you’d like or how you’d change it if you could. The true lacking in
that case is not of a material matter but a personal one. What is it that makes
a less than desirable place one you feel compelled to return to time and again?
It’s the content and joyful spirit of the person within the home! Strive to be
the kind of person who is so content and so delighted in the company of others
that everything else is insignificant.
Finally, what if we viewed
our homes belonging more to God than us? Would our possessiveness lessen? Would
we be less likely to use it as our hole to hide in? I believe God has a plan
for each of us and will provide us with means to achieve that purpose. It’s
about Him and His glory! That perspective has really influenced my desires for
the meaning of my home and the means by which to achieve it. So as I continue
unpack boxes and then decorate our space, I know that even if everything doesn’t
come together as I have envisioned God does have it all together still!
Linked up at: Passionate and Creative Homemaking, Our Simple Country Life, The Purposeful Mom, Renewing Housewives, Homemaker By Choice, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Your Thriving Family, Thankful Homemaker, Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Women Living Well
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. This perspective has been influential in accepting less than ideal circumstances and being open to whatever God has in mind to be gained from them. It's something that I'm don't do all to well and am in need of reminding often, but I'm grateful for those reminders as well. 
by Emmerson Eggerichs 
by Jerry Jones {A few of the questions in the video came from this book}