Subscribe today for your FREE copy of…
FACING YOUR FEARS – 31 STORIES FROM M.O.M.
Every home talks. Above the din or kid tunes, toddler talk, tween laughter, and teenage tunes, homes speak. Despite all of the digital messages firing without pause, “home” still has the potential to resonate strong and true. Whether or not the sound is sweet or foul, our home will speak. What is your home saying?
I was invited to a Christmas party at a house that could’ve swallowed 3 of our bungalow. Before I unbuckled my seat belt, I vowed I would never host the group. A sky high door swung open to reveal a galaxy of lights with a background of yuletide tunes soaring to the cathedral ceiling. We toured each bedroom, admiring the seasonal decor and sampling elegant finger foods. It was so beautiful; I wanted to have Christmas there!
Before another Christmas passed, I learned the truth. When there was no party or tour or holiday, the only soaring sounds were those of angry voices spouting toxic words and weeping. The outer beauty had been as genuine as the spray snow on the garage door windows. I wondered what people would see and hear if I rolled back the spray snow on my home and let people hear “the real us.”
Every home talks. Children see through “fake.” They may love it when it comes out of the can, but they know it’s a fake. Kids want the real stuff. Ugliness can’t be hidden forever. What do you think your home says to friends, neighbors, family, kids, strangers?
Home Extreme Makeover Jeremiah 29 style
I love Jeremiah 29:11 where God promises we’ll seek Him and find Him, but do you know who that promise is written to? God’s people were living in a land that hated and enslaved them. Despite that, God told them to build houses, plant gardens, get married, have children, seek the good of their community, and prosper. (Read the context in Jeremiah 29:4-14. It’s amazing!)
He wanted to bless His people, but He also wanted the lost people around them to HEAR what homes say when the people live privately and publicly for His glory. He wanted the sound of God-fearing homes to resonate in the world, so people like me would seek Him and find Him when I searched for Him with all my heart.
If you want the echo of your home to be genuine and full of good news, ask yourself these 5 questions. Put yourself in a guest’s shoes or ask a good friend to tell you the honest truth.
How to know what your home is saying
- What’s important here? (Let the things, the schedule, the words, and the activity answer this one.)
- Who leads and who serves here?
- How do the people here treat each other in word and deed?
- When are the people here together, and when they are, what do they do?
- Where do the “real people” live? (In other words … we don’t want spray snow; give us the real thing!)
Does it really matter what others think? God thinks it does. He wants us to cultivate homes that are truly beautiful. The size of the door or the number of rooms has nothing to do with it. A big home can be sweet sounding, and it can be a big racket. A small home can scream, or it can sing. It makes no sense to have the light of Christ and hide it (Matthew 5:14-15) ; God wants His homes to reveal Him to the world. He wants our homes to sound like He does.
Are you ready for your home to be heard? When friends come to play? When family comes over? When a neighbor stops by? Every home talks. What is yours saying?
What beautiful sound have you heard echoing in another home?
- Election Day and empowering, enduring truths for moms - November 8, 2016
- Loving People: How Moms can Make Life a Lesson in Loving - October 11, 2016
- A Child’s Heart and the Hidden Treasure of Talking Back - September 13, 2016
