Home. What do you feel inside when you see that word? Is it good? Is it bad? For me it’s “comfort.” I’m sure that has a lot to do with the fact that my parents made our home that way. But I’m also sure it is because of what our “home” was built on. Was yours built on love and dreams? Or was it tough place to be because of a sick parent or an abusive household?
You grow up and the circle of life continues and you find yourself responsible for creating a home environment and creating the meaning of that word. Being that I’m in a new marriage with three children, I’m now the one who has to create that definition of home for 3 young hearts. That’s a heavy load considering I still feel like a teenager myself some days! Are you taking that responsibility serious in your household?
We all want our homes to feel safe. We want to live somewhere that seems nice and comfortable. We can work our tails off to have the house we dream of but what’s inside? What’s it built on? Do your kids hear arguing everyday? Do they feel tense when a certain parent is around or tense when their parents are in the same room? Do they dread going home and wish to be at a friends house? Or are they excited to come home after school? Does your husband look forward to coming home or does he spend extra time at work because his home is a tough place to face? These are the questions we must ask ourselves!
I’m going to let you in on a little bit of my life. It’s my first year of marriage, it’s beautiful but it can get tough! I knew it would be and braced myself for the fact that it wasn’t going to be a fairytale every single day but you still never expect certain things to happen that do. I love my husband to pieces but there are days when we hurt each other, simply put. In the first couple months it was the hardest. We would get into little spats and there was no way the kids didn’t know. Especially when we did it right in front of them. But as God would have it, I eventually felt so convicted that by about the fourth month or so, I put my foot down, told the devil to flee and just stopped! I stopped allowing things to get to me when the kids were around. I made a decision that I would wait until the kids go to bed to bring anything up that was bothering me. And you know what? Half the time, by the time it got to bed time I didn’t bring it up because it didn’t bother me anymore! Time passing can make you realize you’re ridiculous and being dumb and can also help settle emotions that just aren’t real! Now, I’m not going to say that him and I will never have a spat when the kids are around for the rest of our lives but I can say with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, home has become more “homey.”
I look back now and realize why my definition of home is comfort and it’s because my parents built our house on the rock of the Lord. Sure they argued here and there but love quickly followed. Sure they made mistakes but their convictions changed them.
The Bible says,”Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
No matter how much your house is worth, and how great your bed is, unless it’s built on the one thing that lasts forever, it’s just a house. But if it’s built on the love of the Lord, it’s surely a home! So let God change your heart so that everyone that enters your door feels the sweet feeling of the word “home.”
Rug Pictured: Target $12
Shoes Pictured: Nordstrom $149