This is the scene that welcomes you when you enter my home … shoes, towels, flip flops, umbrellas. It is a place to kick your shoes off as you arrive home, hang your towel from the beach, and get ready to relax at home. Aaaahhh…home. It may be messy, but it prepares your heart to be at home, where we gather together to love each other, rest, play, laugh, eat, and sleep.
The funny thing is that this area is the only “messy” place in our whole house! I think it’s a symbol of sorts. We like to have a casual, “beach” sort of attitude about our home. Come as you are. Enjoy yourself. Be yourself. Relax ~ life is good. Enjoy it.
Since today is the 15th, I was reading Proverb 15 this morning:
“All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it. Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred.” ~ Proverbs 15:15-17
It occurred to me that the “good” things in these verses were things I could choose: a cheerful heart, fear of the Lord (which is respect for God), and love.
So, if I choose to have a cheerful heart, I can have a “continual feast.” And even if I have “little” in life, but have respect for God, it is better than having “much” and having a lot of trouble because I am not living in a way that honors God.
In the same way, it would be better to have a less extravagant lifestyle, but have enough (vegetables) and have love in my house, than to have wealth (fattened ox) but have my house filled with fighting.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is this: Check Your Attitude at Your Door!
- As you enter your home, try to shake off any impatience or irritations hanging on from your activities.
- Consider creating a “catch all” place like this in your entry hall so that you can physically “unload” and perhaps that will help you mentally unload as well.
- If you feel tired or impatient in your home, ask the Lord to give you a cheerful heart (I have to do this ALL the time!) and to give you renewed energy so that you don’t feel so tired that you don’t show love to your family.
What do you do to keep a cheerful heart at home? How do you keep your home filled with love and not fighting?