Home is where the heart is and where all of our stories begin. So what happen? Homes have lots of emotion attached to just the sound of the word H-O-M-E.
Each of us lives in our own “personal environment, our home”. This might be an efficiency in a big city or a lovely home in the suburbs. It may be a dorm room, or your first condo, but it is that place which you call your own personal space where you lay your head each night and where your life begins each day and where it finishes each day.
No place else carries such importance in the building of this cornerstone of our “Relationships”. Love begins here, love ends here, new life is conceived and is brought home to this place called home, tears are shed, new pillows are purchased and groceries come through the door. We clean, and decorate and enjoy holidays and meals in this place we call home.
When you come through the door what greets you? Is it purring, is it singing, wagging a tail, crying, screaming, quiet, the smell of dinner in the crock pot or are you greeted by chaos? Each of these descriptions provoke a feeling and I bet some stress or relief.
What do you want your home, your personal space to say to you when you get home?
Who else needs to be in this same frame of mind to make it so?
How would you get everyone inside your four walls to join in this feeling of contentment?
What need to be tossed in the garbage?
What do you need to add or delete?
Did you know that if you sat down and had a family or roommate or spouse meeting you might find willingness to make that dream come true?
By making the effort and taking the first step which is the question: “What do I want to greet me when I come home at the end of the day?”; there in lies the answer.
When I was first married, I used to be fond of needle work. I loved it and found it very peaceful. I remember doing a piece (that I still have) which summed up what I wanted in my home. Here it is:
“A Home Should Be Clean Enough To Be Happy”. I just loved this. It relieved me of certain expectations I had for having a “spotless home”. It also allowed me to keep a project out so that I could be happy.
Once my husband and I had an understanding about the level of cleanliness in our home, life was great. This same little needle work plaque hung in my home for years. When children arrived, there was another meeting of what does “clean enough to be happy” look like with toddlers and their toys look like. When they were involved and they were responsible for putting away their own toys, again life was sweet.
Yes, it does take time to sit down face to face. Yes, it does take honesty and make even a written down set of who does what in order for your home to be a strong relational cornerstone, but it can be done and the results are wonderful.
