Skip to main content

A Friend's Home

A knock sounded, the door opened, and we were welcomed in out of the rain by a beautiful blonde with a baby on her hip. Boots pulled off, jackets removed, toys dumped out on the floor and we were ready. The kettle whistled, signaling that tea could be made, and while my hostess asked about sugar and milk I looked around with a smile. Creativity and Practicality had joined together in this art-form we call "home making" and they had done well. 

Practicality had joined Perseverance by make this home clean. I did not worry that my wondering toddler would choke on food or small toys left on the floor because there were none. Clean is hard. Clean means being the bad guy and making small hands come back to clean up play dough under the table and books on the couch. Clean means wiping down counters and having a place for all the dishes, towels, and canned goods. Clean means finding the broom, vacuum, vinegar, rags, laundry detergent, dish soap, or whatever you use and actually using it. Clean is hard. But clean helps make a house a home. 



Creativity had joined diligence and patience. I complemented my friend on her decor and she waved it away with an explanation. "It's mostly from the thrift store." She had taken hard-earned money and made it stretch while still portraying the style of her choice. While I am a thrift-store shopper I lack talent when it comes to visualizing things in my home as well as the patience to paint and fix things that aren't quite right. Besides buying things second-hand she had made several things with the help of her husband which added care and charm to the space.

Practicality had joined kindness. As the children played and ran around she said, "I don't want people to worry if their kids mess things up. I don't care." While she had worked hard to make her home lovely it was still lived in by her family and she wanted it to be lived in by other families too. Her things were beautiful, but it mattered more to her that people were comfortable than that things stayed where they were. 

Creativity had joined joy. My hostess enjoys making her house a home. She likes to make it comfortable, beautiful, warm, welcoming, and happy. 

God does not often use the big and extreme things of this world to bless us, but He does use homes. He uses homes with hardwood, with expensive furniture, with picnic tables, and with black appliances. He uses homes sounding Bach's symphony, children's giggles, and oxygen pumps. He uses homes with bookshelves filled with Puritan Paperbacks and homes that smell like cookies. I am thankful He uses what we think of as ordinary to bless others. And I am encouraged to continue working on my own home, that the surfaces may be clean, the atmosphere warm, and the hostess gracious to welcome one and all. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Body Image (1)

Contentedly situated in lawn chairs with our toes in the sand and the baby playing on a blanket at our feet, my friend and I watch her girls digging holes or running between the beach and the lake. Periodically, the girls run up to us to display the shells and rocks they've found. At one point, as the girls surround us, one of us adults comments on the baby being chubby (which she is, as a baby should be) after which one of the girls looks at me and says, "you're kind of chubby." She wasn't trying to be rude or smart, she was just being bluntly observant as children are. As I looked at I her and considered an answer, I thought of the baggage of body image that women have carried for generations, and I thought, I don't want her to carry this baggage too. I want better for her.   I replied, "you know, being a little chubby is actually a good thing. Our bodies function better and it helps keep us warm." This deep lesson was probably lost on her as she s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Surprise Sin

Over Easter weekend I had the opportunity to visit my grandparents. We caught up over soup and egg salad sandwiches and then migrated to the living room with cups of tea. Gradually the conversation turned to a couple young siblings from their church whom they've observed seldom fight. Sometimes these kids do get angry or annoyed with each other and then they fight, but that is not their normal relationship. My grandfather made this observation, "isn't that just like sin? You are living your life of obedience and then all of a sudden its like sin gets the better of you." It was a comforting statement coming from my elderly grandfather who has been walking with the Lord for over 80 years. Even as a seasoned saint, sin still creeps up on him. But it has also made me think quite a bit. Sometimes I am tempted to think that if I do everything right (regular devotions, get enough sleep, listen to good music, eat well, have Christian fellowship, exercise) then I won't fal...
Post a Comment
Read more

Delayed Grief

 Grief is a crazy thing. Sometimes you cry till you fall asleep, sometimes you're angry, sometimes you can't feel anything, and sometimes you're so, so tried. Grief is also unpredictable in that it can take a long time to heal...and sometimes it feels like its been healed and then you're crying on your way home from the grocery store and you aren't even sure why. Grief is not logical and polite and convenient. It interrupts our lives on its terms. A couple mornings ago I was thinking about how tired I am. I'm not weepy or angry or even really sad, just tired, and this tiredness is physical, mental, and emotional. Which surprises me because my life is actually really great and I haven't had anything in recent months to be sad about. However, the more I contemplated it,  I think the tiredness is a long term symptom of a deep sadness that I lived in a couple years ago. Which is the first thing I wanted to share with you. Maybe, like me, there has been nothing r...
Post a Comment
Read more