" Have you ever stopped to think about all the work that went into the place where you live? The architects. The builders. The construction crew. The designers-not just of the building but of everything it contains! Someone developed your flooring, someone built your walls....a lot of work went into the design of your home."
These are the words that greeted me as I opened up my bible study, a bible study I left off months ago. In fact, lately, I have been thinking about the work that goes into designing a home to the exclusion of much else. I burst out laughing and teared up simultaneously as I was hit with the humor, irony, and ultimately the presence of God. Between the discomforts of my pregnancy, bouts of family illness, and the consumptive nature of building a house, my quiet time with God has suffered, as has my church attendance, and time with my small group, as has my soul. I have been feeling so out of balance, longing for God, without taking time for Him. I tell myself, of course God matters to me more than a house, which is after all no more than a shell, but when a moment of breath comes, I research siding colors, window reviews, and pellet stove options. When it's time for church, but the home show is this weekend and only this weekend, well, you get it. I felt so....off. During one such moment of inevitable break down, I started to cry; as Baylie saw the tears rolling down my face, she says, "Mama's spillin'! (what she says, when someone cries, or pees on the floor), and, that's exactly what it felt like. I might fall apart, spill out all over, not because my life isn't amazing, but because, God really did make the Sabbath for man, not man for the sabbath, and when you neglect God's way, you suffer, and sometimes, even when I know that, I need to spill all over before I really get it.
And God, He was right there, the whole time, knowing my thoughts. When I was ready to return, He met me right where I was, with a lesson on how important it is to create a peaceful home that is God's, that welcomes others, meets them with love, and is alive with the Lord. What makes a house a home, isn't anything I can pick up at Lowe's, and while I might need to do those tasks, I can't neglect the attention to "designing my home as a place of rest and renewal....that invites people to connect with God, and uses it to bless others." Let's hope it's a lesson I don't have to spill to remember.
