/hōm/
noun
noun: home; plural noun: homes
1. the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
One of my favorite quotes is from Laura Ingalls Wilder. “Home is the nicest word there is.”
Today marks three weeks since I’ve left the house for more than a walk around the block. And honestly? I’m not mad about it. I will admit that there are definitely some hard things for my family right now, including our businesses being heavily affected by the closures and cancellations in the world around us, but my suddenly clear calendar is also a blessing.
With homeschooling, self employment and years of house church, our general lifestyle really is anchored in our home. We’re happy to be here and we genuinely enjoy each other. This house is modest and pushing 100 yrs old, but it’s also cozy and warm and a welcome refuge from the outside world.
Last summer, I felt very strongly that although my business was flourishing, the Lord wanted my attention focused back on my family and more firmly in my home. I was doing the balancing act of mom, teacher and boss lady. If something needed to be put on the back burner in this season of life, I knew it would be my business. So I started making decisions from that point forward to not close my business, but shift gears in a way that really planted me more firmly in my home. My kids are middle school and high school age and I have become increasingly aware of how short this homeschooling season really is. I graduate one kid in a year and a second kid the following year. Time is short and I want to enjoy these moments teaching them, encouraging them, praying over them, helping them navigate all the teenage emotions, and preparing them to head out into this big, big world.
So I shifted gears. I said no to many events and opportunities. I kept my calendar from filling up and worked instead on increasing online traffic and sales while sitting at the dining room table. Because God is good and I think He wanted to show off a bit… I still met all of my original sales goals for the year, with considerably less stress, less hustle and less time running out the door.
Fast forward to March 2020. I had scaled down this year’s schedule significantly compared to last year. I was committed to spending even more time at home, but still had certain events I was looking forward to. And then BAM. Businesses closed, events cancelled. As an organizer of a couple events that I had to personally cancel, I shed some tears. Hard work that now had no pay off was hard to swallow and I had to let myself take a day and grieve.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been deleting commitments from my calendar and I haven’t
been sad. For years, I've longed for small stretches of time to actually lounge and relax… days that I can sip coffee and listen to a Bible project podcast and not constantly be thinking of how productive I need to be.
Confession: I sat and worked on a puzzle this week. A PUZZLE!
I graded tests and papers without feeling overwhelmed. I made muffins.
I’ve also created jewelry and shipped out Etsy orders and done product photography, etc. but it has been enjoyable. The world around us is chaos right now and like I said, our financial situation is not secure, but I can honestly say that there is PEACE in my home.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is Philippians 4:4-7.
4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
When we remember that the Lord is coming soon, we fix our eyes on the hope (a confident expectation) that we have in Jesus. We can have peace in the midst of the struggles and chaos of this world because we know how it ends. If we live in Christ, we know we have everything we need in His coming, even if things aren’t great here and now.
PEACE, PEACE, PEACE.
Let’s spend the next few weeks filling our homes with it and maybe we won't be in such a rush to walk out the door when all the opportunities return.