Make your House a Home

A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul. ~ Phillip Moffitt

Whether you live in a huge or small house, an apartment or a cottage style home with a white picket fences, in a city or small town, a Home is what you make it.

"A house is made of walls and beams, but a home is built with love and dreams".

Whether your walls are painted or decorated with fingerprints and crayon markings, the walls are are what would tell your story if they could talk. The walls hear the complaining and fussing as well as the laughter and giggles. The walls hear you crying out at night and   hear your rejoicing over accomplishments.

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, a grow old wanting to get back to ." ~ John Ed Pearce

Regardless of what house you live in, it can easily be made into a home where the love of God, peace, and joy are abounding. Let your home surround with the presence of the Lord . Let this be a house prayer, meditation and playing music that uplifts Him. Make it a home of exchanging smiles and laughter, making memories, keeping neat and organized to the best of your family's ability, limiting the ability of unnecessary noise like excessively loud children, bickering, too much technology etc.

A home is learning to be content with what you have and not so demand with others. We don't need to keep up with the Jones's whoever they are, but be thankful for what the Lord has blessed you with. Don't let your circumstances, how big is your house, financial status, material things define your joy or lack thereof. But rejoice! for God has blessed you abundantly!

Houses have atmospheres and smells too :). They radiate the mood and character of the family who dwells there. You can actually tell as soon as you enter someone's house if it feels warm, open, and inviting or stiff and uncomfortable. It doesn't matter how perfect and beautiful your furnitures are or how clean you keep your house. Furnishings and belongings never make up for love.

Here are Few Tips to make your house into warm and loving home you desire.

A. Maintain an open door policy.  Make your house inviting to family and friends by letting them know you value them as a part of your life. Make your home a house full of friends. Encourage them to stop by to say hello or visit with you for a few minutes. A closed home is a lonely home :(

B. Fill it with fresh aroma. Let the aroma of compassion, kindness, gentleness, love, joy, patience, etc permeate through your walls. A place where people can feel secure to be themselves.

C.  Hold a consistent family dinner hour. Make sure your family sits together at the table for dinner each night (or at least regularly) so that you can share together, laugh, and bond. It doesn't matter what else is going on in the world if you can all connect as one family unit each day.

D. Keep your home clean, but let it be a "lived in". It's a great thing to be organized, and to take pride of your home. But it's just as important to not let that organization run your life. If a home is super clean and immaculate that everyone is afraid to relax, what good does that do anyone?  What you would do if you opened your door and find Jesus there after He'd walked for miles on a dusty road. Would you allow Him to enter in His dirty sandals?

E. Most importantly, Let God be the centre of your home. Let your home radiates the love of God all over.

I want my children to remember a home that was a refuge for them and somewhere that they  could be themselves. I want something "real" to be felt in my home.

Don't you?