When I Think of Home

I am so excited to post my first blog and at the same time come along my longtime friend Lisa Rippy in the ministry God has called her to! Recently I asked God for a “suddenly” in regard to the ministry work He has for me to do. On January 15 I shared my testimony of freedom in Christ.(more to come on that in future posts) It was from there that Lisa and I knew God would have us work together. So I got my suddenly and off we go! Thank you Lord for Your perfect timing!

When asked to write about home the first thing that came to my mind was the first line from the song Home by Diana Ross:

When I think of home, I think of a place where there is love overflowing. 

It really makes you think of your home….your past, present and future home. There is not much any of us can do about the homes we grew up in. Those are in the past. You may have warm fuzzy memories of growing up or you may not even like to think about it all. Either way, it is the past and we can’t live in the past.

We are living in the now and looking to the future. So right now what do you think about your “home”? When you pull up in your driveway how do you feel about your home? I am not talking about the outside of it, I mean what is waiting for you when you go inside? When you go into your house, does it feel like home? A house is not a home. It is simply the structure that does what its name says. It houses the home.

A home is just like the song says, “a place where there is love overflowing”. You may live alone or have a spouse with a house full of children. Or you can be like me, an empty nester. My husband and I have been married 29 years this year and we have a son that will graduate from college this year. We have definitely been in the process of re-defining home. We have gone from homework assignments, ball games and dances to just the two of us. Our home is safe and quiet. It is predictable and constant, and I love it. God knew exactly what I would need at this time in my life and who I would need right by my side. He knew that I would love to sit in my chair at night with my husband and our dogs on the floor. Yes, I said my husband and dogs on the floor! (As in my husband lies on the floor with our dogs! ) We love our dogs, what can I say?! He knew I would find peace in that. There is love overflowing in our home, even in the quiet.

So what about looking to the future? If you aren’t in the empty nest stage think about where you are right now. How do you want your home to be tomorrow, the next day and the day after that? How do you want your home to be 10 years from now? Ecclesiastes says there is a season for everything and indeed there is. We can help to determine to some degree what these seasons will look like. One way to do that is by thinking about another future home, our Eternal home. It is a place of great beauty. There is music and dancing. There is a celebration always going on. The guest of honor is always present and His guests don’t feel like guests because they are His children. Our homes here are preparation for our homes there. Take an inventory of your home now. Would Jesus like to be in your home? Would He want to come back and visit or better yet, would He want to stay awhile? Look at your home through His eyes. Thank Him for what is good and right and ask Him to help you change what is not. There is freedom in letting Christ rearrange your home into what He wants it to be. A place where there is love overflowing.

Living in freedom,

Rene’