In Just One Simple Uncluttered Moment In the Kitchen

As I made my way through our home this morning, I noticed something…something that just stood out to me. It wasn’t the way it looked or the way it smelled, but the way our home “felt.” It felt exceptionally “homey” to me. Like in all homes, stuff happens.  Life happens. There are good, bad and ugly days that roll in and roll out of our lives … roll in and roll out of our homes.

But the one thing that made it feel like home, is what I thought as I stood in our kitchen pouring a hot cup of my favorite coffee, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Rip as he cooked up a skillet of eggs, and we totally basked in every milla-second of it. It was this one thought…

Everyone in our home is created in the image of God, in the heart of God, and for me — that’s enough.

That’s enough for me to forgive and ask forgiveness. That’s enough for me to push back my sleeves and serve ’em all! That’s enough to make me set that alarm, get up, read God’s Bible, pray, and then move into another heavenly planned day. That’s enough for me to get up and get goin’ being about my Father’s business. That’s enough for me to find joy in being exhausted from it all. That’s enough for me to humble myself and seek God’s help to control my tongue. To ask for His help in taking captive every thought and making it obedient unto Him. That’s enough for me to ask for the Lord’s help in not overlooking the small things that are usually the BIG things to God. That’s enough for me to swallow all pride and give..cheerfully. Freely. And it’s enough for me to fully understand that I can’t do one thing, not one lasting thing in my family and friends lives until I surrender. Until I surrender all. Until I surrender IT all. Surrender is when the soft touch of God realigns our entire way of thinking to His way of thinking. It’s all to Jesus we surrender our days, our doubts, our fears, and our insecurities. All to HIM we freely give of ourselves, and that is when we see a turn…a turn in our marriage, in our relationships with our children, in relationships with friends and with enemies. Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is the key to our being homemakers who get in on the Father’s business even while dusting a bookshelf, teaching our children how to share, not losing it when the refrigerator door was left open all night, and not retaliating when someone wrongs us. Surrendering lets go and lets God….literally.

All to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him I freely give. 

I will forever love and trust Him. In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus, I surrender. Humbly at His feet I bow.

Girls, I’m telling you, it is the most wonderful thing in all the world to be a homemaker! I know what you’re thinking, … it’s what I’m thinking. It’s tiring as all get out. It is. It’s one of the most demanding callings in the entire world. Being a homemaker can seem tee-totally overwhelming on certain days….on a whole lotta’ days! Nevertheless, there are also those days when we would all agree….it’s the most invigorating and rewarding honor and privilege on this planet! Nothing compares! Believe me, there have been many days when I just wanted to pack a bag and run to the hills just to get away from it all and breathe! Breathe in fresh, unruffled, undemanding, and uninterrupted air! Just give me a jar of peanut butter and Saltines and I’m good to go! Literally, there have been days when I’d look out of our kitchen window and find myself jealous of the birds in our birdbath…so free to splash and play, and fly away to wherever they wanted into the vast blue sky! I can remember feeling those exact days so vividly.

But then …

there is always more mornings like today when I wake up, walk about my home and have, once again, that, “Ahhhh, Lord, this is why You have called me to serve You in this way. This is why You commissioned me to be a maker and encourager and builder of home. Why you commissioned me to nurture and care for the homes of people’s own hearts. It’s You. It’s Your will. It’s Your own heart for the people in my life and I ask that You beat Your Heart in Me.”

When we live with a heart like His, the home of His heart is living through us.

What made my home feel like home this morning? It was one simple uncluttered moment in the kitchen while … being aware of God’s presence. 

When we live with an awareness of His presence, we will experience the home of His own heart. And what we experience, we feel. We want our earthly homes to provide experiences that are full of compassion, grace and kindness. Well, it starts with an awareness of His presence in our life. A simple and stilled awareness that He is with us. That He is there.

As we separate fussing children, He is there. As we struggle with relationships in our dorm, He is there. As we feel so overwhelmed and can’t ever seem to get ahead, He is there. As we are afraid our teenager may never get out of the far country of rebellion, He is there. When we are criticized, rejected and hurt, He is there. When trust in relationships is broken, He is there. When financial strain is injuring our marriage, He is there. When we feel unloved, He is there. And He is there HEART and ALL!

This brings to mind a song that I’ve loved for years by CeCe Winnans – “A Heart Like Yours.”

A heart like Yours is what I desire. Is what I’m searching for. Full of compassion. So much grace, so much kindness, so much faith. Give me a heart Like Yours.”  

Yes, it was one of those sweet and personal encounters with God in the kitchen this morning. That still small voice of the Holy Spirit is mighty powerful and can completely redirect, rejuvenate, and renew our entire self! From tip to toe, with just one thought. And in that one thought, the joys of all that we do as women can surface right to the REAL place of our life where it all counts … where it all matters … our heart.

And it can all happen in just one simple uncluttered moment in the kitchen.