What a busy last few weeks!
Don't you just love springtime? Doesn't it just make you want to fix up your house, clear out the clutter, get outside, and start anew? So refreshing.
Here lately, the handsome hubs and I have been hard at work on our home. We have been cleaning, painting, planting, and rearranging.....You know, all of those homeownerish things people do this time of year. Since this is our first home and since we have a baby girl coming this summer - we have been buzzing around here getting it all done. Whew.
Last night, as we were wrapping up our painting project in the hallway, I started thinking about all of the things we had improved or redone over the last few months in our house: The kitchen remodel is underway. The carpet was replaced. New laminate was installed. We had to get a new roof. And the list goes on. But then I started thinking - Sure, our home is steadily improving and becoming more like the way we envisioned it when we bought it, but....
what about the people inside?
Hmmm. Are we concentrating at all on improving us, our relationships, our faith? Where are our hearts at the moment? What condition is our faith in? Do we need to do any remodeling and updating in our relationships? Do the walls of our hearts and souls need some fine-tuning? Any improvements needed?
Oh, yes.
So, I've decided to start going through Stormie Omartain's book The Power of Praying Together with my husband. What better way to work on improving our family than to turn to The One that knows how to improve us the best?
Sure. We will certainly continue to work on our house and get things accomplished. But, we are also going to work on us, too: Our relationships with the Lord, our marriage, our kids, our attitudes, our struggles, our prayer life, our friendships, our desires. Sometimes you just have to sit back, slow down, and evaluate where things are at the moment. Because while living in a home that is comfortable and updated is nice - living the life that God calls us to live is essential. We can paint pretty colors on the walls of our home all day long - but if the hardened walls of our hearts and lives aren't tended to on a steady bases (or just torn down completely!) - it doesn't really matter does it?
Revelations 2:19 encourages me onward in all this:
I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
Yes. I want to be more like that.
I'm looking forward to sharing with you what we learn through all this. I love each of you dearly.
Lord, you know where we need improvement. You know what we need to work on. Please reveal to us the things that you want changed. Make yourself known to us. Be present in our home AND in our hearts. Thank you for being a God who is in the remodeling business. In Jesus, Amen.
