Stewarding Your Home

I have a friend who is a phenomenal steward of what God has given her. She keeps her house impeccably clean because she's so grateful to have been entrusted with it, so grateful to have been blessed enough to be able to purchase it. She cooks great food from scratch. She invites people over and pours out her heart and her love for Jesus to them, sometimes reading aloud straight from her journal. Her home is finished and beautiful, and her heart is pure.

When this friend was first telling me how she feels bad if her house is dirty because it's God who has given it to her, I thought she was crazy. I thought, "I have no problem with a little mess on a busy week." Now that we've bought a house, I get it. This house is so special to me. It's special that we are fortunate enough to afford a house. It's special that in a crazy housing economy, we scored (in my opinion) one with scalloped kitchen cabinets, bay windows, and a safe neighborhood with a park. I get it now. I respect this home.

In a similar way, growing up, my parents always showed my siblings and I that they respect their home too. I don't think that laundry has ever laid unfolded or dishes have ever piled up in their home. We weren't just raised in a tidy space, it was clean. We woke up on Saturday mornings and my dad handmade biscuits. We ate them together at the table, then split up to scrub baseboards and bathrooms, before we ever hung out with our neighborhood friends. My parents both came from little and worked hard through 30+ years of marriage and stable careers, for what they have now. They have always respected what they have earned, been irrationally generous, and they have continually been trusted with more.

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I thought of that friend often in my first year of marriage, when I was vacuuming and re-tucking our poorly fitting couch covers that hid the couches that were given to my husband for free by a church family a few years ago. I think of her on the rare occasion that clean laundry sits on our couch for three days. Mostly, I used to think of her when I got the thoughts that I wouldn't be ready for us to host Bible studies in this house until it was done. We're at a weird place in our home improvement, where half the house looks new and great and the other half is old and in need of love. It's so easy to want to apologize for the in-between and the half finished when we invite people in, but I keep my mouth zipped and my heart grateful for what we have.

When I think of that friend, I instantly remember how thankful I am for this home and how special it is to me. I remember telling God when we were house hunting that I desired a home with room to always welcome more people in. There were 7 offers on this house, one all cash, but God had already set it aside for us. We viewed it at 9am, put in an offer by 12pm, and our offer was accepted by 9pm. We have room for seven cars to park in our driveway. We have a whole extra front room to fit more people. Our dining table fits with the leaf inserted and offers dinner guests a view of the garden full of its butterflies and squirrels. God desires to give what a pure heart wants to use to serve Him.

The sacredness of this home comes from the way God entrusted it to us and the prayer and Bible study that happens within it, not from paint that isn't chipped. The joy of this home comes from the ever-active abundant garden, my fresh baked sourdough goodies, and the endless singing and dancing, not from matching baseboards. The warmth in this home comes from the abundance of natural light and our sweet new golden dog, not from a brand new modern dining table. The love and light in this home come from my husband and I's heart for the Lord and being a team who reflects Him, not from updated light fixtures.

So we'll wash, dry, and put away our dishes. We'll fold the clothes when the dryer's buzzer goes off. We'll make good food from scratch. We'll dance around the house and sing really loud at each other. We'll invite people over for dinner even when we're busy and tired. We'll weed this busy garden God gifted us. We'll do one more house project and then one more house project to brighten this space up and make it our own. We'll serve our God. We'll serve each other. We'll serve our community.

Week after week, and year after year.

Because we are so deeply grateful for what we have received.

I hope that with time and daily gratitude, my respect for our home and its ability to bring people together and share God's grace and love, will reflect my friend's.

In church we are taught to steward what we are given, and we will be trusted with more. To tithe even when we make little, and we will be rewarded with more (whether that be now or in heaven, I'm not teaching a prosperity gospel here.) Luke 12:42-46 and Matthew 25:14-30 explain this principal well. I believe that these verses apply to all aspects of our lives. I want to steward this home so we may be trusted with more. More friends who become like brothers and sisters. More family to grow and raise in this home. More flowers in the garden. More birds at the bird feeder. More fresh baked bagels at the table. More life. More love. More joy.

I think this is a concept that every person in the world could probably stand to meditate on for a minute every day. Gratitude and respect for what we already have. Desire to use it to its full capability.

If I'm being honest, the final read through of this blog made me tear up. We are so blessed! I am desperately grateful for the life I have! I kind of want to cry every single night when we walk our sweet happy dog to the neighborhood park and she has a field to run around and play in and the backdrop is a stunning sunset. I hope that this blog encouraged you to reflect on your home in a new light. Even if it's small. Even if it's old. Our homes are like our money. Really, they belong to God, and we are just stewarding them for a short time; using them to reflect His love and grace, to the best of our ability.

I'll leave you with these pictures of our dog, Scarlett, hamming it up with our neighbor, her new Grandma Linda. Linda and her husband Joe still tend to their beautiful garden every single evening at sunset. They called us over one evening while we were on our walk and they fell in love with our Scarlett. Joy, beauty, and contentment can be found everywhere we're willing to look for it.

Love ya! Bye!