Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A Domestic Revelation

I had a great time with a girlfriend yesterday (love you ED). Even moms need their own play dates sometimes! And I love how God puts people in our lives who challenge us to move forward. Towards Jesus. Through faithfulness. And with perspective and hope.

I had a busy morning of making bread, chicken salad, and hard boiled eggs in prep for our lunch. As I floated back and forth in my kitchen, I kept praying and asking God:
Give me joy in the domestic. Cause my heart to love the things it takes to make my home flourish. Please God, help me! God has been doing a work in my heart lately and giving me heart-core desire to want to enjoy the housekeeping it takes to make a great home. A peaceful home. A home where I don’t feel overwhelmed because laundry piles into a two-day endeavor. A home where my kids can find the toys they like and like the toys we find. A home where my husband feels a rushing joy to walk in the front door.

Most of all: a home where God is glorified.

Praise God my girlfriend is experiencing the same desires. We talked for hours (and hours!) about these struggles. We were reminded how our gracious husbands show patience. We laughed at how we tend to go from nothing to overachieving – like no meal plan to a ten-week meal plan with every vegetable and seasoning planned out, groceries that require a once-monthly trip to the store, and don’t forget cutting coupons to save thousands! And we felt our hearts swell at the women who model this well, not perfectly, to give us hope without causing too much comparison.

This morning I was meditating on Colossians 1 and asking God to give me the wisdom and knowledge to have an organized and easily maintained home. But my prayers seemed little. Like asking Willy Wonka for an everlasting gobstopper when he is offering the whole factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate. Yum. Okay, back to spiritual insight. My sights started lifting to a broader and bigger prayer:
God be glorified in my homemaking. Yes, that’s it! In my meal preparation, be glorified. In my cleaning and laundry, be glorified. In closets and behind closed doors, be glorified. And hardest of all: be glorified in how I spend my time.

He isn’t glorified in laziness.
He isn’t glorified in chaos.
He isn’t glorified when distraction keeps us from His best.

I believe God places a dream in each woman’s heart for her home. A dream for the what-ifs and why-nots. A dream to see beauty overtaking the tasks that have long weighed our souls and calloused our hands. To close our eyes and picture, imagine, and dream for an environment that can simply cause heaven to break into this earthly structure.

What is God’s dream for your home?

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