Your Home: A Powerful Arena

This quote on this actual same piece of paper has been hanging in my kitchen for more than 15 years. In fact, it has hung in three different kitchens now. With each move, I’ve packed this piece of paper as carefully as I’ve packed our dishes. It’s not that the paper itself is of any importance; it’s the message that I need as a daily reminder of how we should view our home.

Over these 15+ years, many people have passed through our home–each of them important, each of them a life God wants to touch and change. Kevin and I have always desired for our home to be a place of welcome and of peace, a place where people feel comfortable and loved, and a place where God’s Spirit is present and leading. Sometimes our “arena,” as Rick Warren refers to it in this quote, has been a setting for change for our family members; at other times we have poured into friends, neighbors, and fellow Jesus-followers.

Over the past three years, since Carlos and Brandon joined our family, we have been probably the most intensely family-focused that we’ve ever been in our marriage. Those of you who have adopted older children know that this is just a necessary way of life for a while. You also know how difficult and lonely it can be. We have seen some change and growth, but we have also experienced a lot of really hard things that leave us feeling greatly discouraged and seriously lacking hope on a lot of days.

So when I see this piece of paper hanging on my dirty fridge in my messy home, it is a powerful reminder to me of why we do the things we do. It is motivation to keep going. And it helps me remember that all sorts of things happen in arenas, and not all of them are happy or entertaining. Sometimes there’s a fight, and often there are tears. Those aren’t signals to give up or even indicators that we are doing something wrong. Change–real. life. change.–takes time, and it takes God. We cannot bring about this change ourselves.

It’s easy to become complacent in how we view the purpose of our homes. Maybe some of you have never really considered your home as a “powerful arena.” Be assured, though, that your home is being used for SOMEthing. You can look around at the people who live there, the words that are spoken, the events that occur, and you will probably be able to see what values are being cultivated.

How do you see your home being used right now? Where do you need encouragement?