“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”
~Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz

What comes to mind when you think about HOME?

Perhaps it is not so much what we think of but how we feel:  relaxed, peaceful, calm, loved, secure, wanted, needed, protected, happy.  How do you feel when your are home?  Or at your childhood home?

We haven’t lived in this house for a year yet.  When we came home on Sunday from a week-long absence, we were so happy to be back.  When we opened the door to the house I thought , “ahhhhhhhhhhh, home at last”.  The smell was familiar, the sights were familiar.  Our relationship to this place was bumped from “still feels a little new”, to “isn’t nice to be back where we belong”.

Where else can we sit and read a note from a friend on our very own front porch, in our very own rocker, next to our very own little table that’s decorated with a jar of roses and a doily made by our very own Great Grandma?

I read a delightful children’s book when we were away.  The book was about animals in nature and each chapter was themed.  In the chapter titled, “Home”, I read this quote:

“Whatever the plant or creature,
there is a certain place that suits it best,
a place where it feels a measure of
abundance, security, comfort, and familiarity.
Such a place becomes ‘Home’.”

and this one:

“Find yourself a home, make it the seat
of your affections, respect it,
cultivate it, appreciate it.  For in the spirit
of home do you find all that is good and
decent in life.  Homes build communities,
communities make nations, nations of
home-loving people make civilization!”
(Sam Campbell)

I truly believe that God is honored when people have the character to secure a home in order to have a safe place to go to for refreshment and rest, to have a place to raise a godly family or entertain dear friends.

In another book titled, Home-making, which was written in 1882 by J.R. Miller, I read this quote:

“The benediction that falls upon the homes
of a country is like the gentle rain that
descends among the hills.  A thousand springs are
fuller afterward, and along the banks of a
thousand streamlets flowing through the
valleys the grass is greener and the flowers pour
out richer fragrance.  Homes are the springs
among the hills, whose many streamlets,
uniting, form like great rivers society, the
community, the nation, the Church.  If the springs
run low the rivers waste;  if they pour out bounteous
currents the rivers are full.  If the springs are pure
the rivers are clear like crystal;  if they are foul
the rivers are defiled.  A curse upon homes sends
a poisoning blight everywhere; a blessing
brings healing and new life into every channel.  Homes
are the divinely ordained fountains of life.”

The more I think about it, the more I say, “Yes, home is the place for me to work, to dream, to play, to be with my husband and my children, my family and loved ones.”  God made family!  Does our home reflect His love, goodness, grace, forgiveness?   I want the flavor of my home to be Christ-like.

Every wise woman buildeth her house:
 but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.
Proverbs 14:1

What sort of dreams and goals do you have for your home life?
What special things do you do as a couple to keep your relationship strong?
What about the children?  Do you have any traditions or fun times that are unique?
What sort of things do you like about your home? or anyone’s home?

“Homes are the divinely ordained
fountains of life” ~ J.R. Miller