Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17 NLT

House Keeping – The Home Series – Part 1

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

Have you ever seen “those” pictures on Instagram of people's homes where there’s not a thing out of place (or if there is, it's been put there on purpose for the shot and somehow looks amazing), all the furniture matches, the light is perfect, people are smiling, their teeth are pearly white, the artwork on the wall behind them is hung straight and looks like it cost the earth? The photo has been framed beautifully, the brightness and contrast are adjusted expertly, and the image portrayed is, well, perfect. Like a “house selfie” if a house could take one.

These pictures trouble me. I’m not great at setting up a shot, and then taking it. I never quite frame it right or get the lighting spot on. Then there’s the issue of the subject: my house.

We’ve been renovating it for the second time the past few months. There is plaster dust everywhere, half the floor is raw and unfinished. Half the walls are freshly painted, the other half are covered with six years of living in a small space. With toddlers. Use your imagination.

There are seven rooms: two bedrooms, one bathroom, combined kitchen/dining/kids play room, a lounge room, a laundry and verandah. We bought it six years ago, one month before I had our first child. It was a DUMP. Mouldy walls, no driveway, carpet that had been harbouring dust fugitives for years… It was unliveable (but in our price range… so we went for it). We put in a new kitchen, new bathroom, ripped up the floors, painted the walls… and moved in. For a while, I was proud of our tiny house and the work we had done to it.

But then we had another child and the house got a little worn a little smaller. My friends started buying bigger, more modern homes that were seemingly cleaner. I began to feel ashamed of my little house. Did it reflect my worth? My success? My husband’s success? I rarely invited friends over, and I didn’t hang any pictures on the walls… In my mind and heart, my house was off limits. Door closed. And there were no photos of it posted on Social Media.

I was embarrassed about what people would see or think or find if they came into the space where I lived. Sometimes, I still am.

In his book, John wrote the “word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.” (John 1:14). Paul wrote to his friends in Ephesus and said, “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.”

A home is not meant to be showed off, it's meant to be lived in.

When I was ashamed of my house, what I was really ashamed of was my life – my living. I closed the doors of my home and heart to others and God so that they couldn't see the mess, the lack, the poor designer instinct; so that I didn’t have to explain the washing on the floor or the dishes in the sink, or my fears and failures and mistakes.

God comes in no matter how our lives appear. He parks in the driveway, walks up the path, knocks on the door and waits for us to answer. He doesn’t come in spite of what our interiors look like, but because of them. He includes the brokenness and the mess, just as he does the clean and well-presented bits. He doesn’t need a spotless house to live in, just an open one. He doesn’t mind if your lounge cost $100 or $5000, he just wants to sit with you.

He doesn’t want to parade our lives on Social Media, or TV screens, or at our local shopping mall. He wants to live with us. In fact, he already does. Sometimes, we’re just too blind and deaf to realise he’s there.

Over to you. Leave us a comment below.

Go to Part 2 – Vulnerability and Trust »

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