Home

Home. Such a loaded word.

I've been thinking a lot about 'home' through the past few weeks. Since I've been fighting bronchitis, strep, sinus, and ear infections I've spent more time at home than 'normal.' I've also spent more time in other people's homes because of the holiday season. I've decided that some homes have a wonderful feeling of welcome - like I could just stay (forever) and some homes make me want to go home (pretty quickly).

Biblical hospitality is so much more than cleaning house and perfecting meal plans... it is rooted in welcoming the stranger and in having a higher regard for the stranger than for oneself...  This is something I long to offer to others as they have offered it to me. (And let's face it - even in our own families we are sometimes 'the other' or 'the stranger'... anything we can do to welcome each other will go a long way toward wholeness in our homes.)

The difference makers (between a 'real' home and a 'fake' home) for me are two-fold:

1) the people
when the people open their home to you and welcome you into their lives - you want to stay

2) the surroundings
when the surroundings tell a story of the people, you feel drawn into the story of the people and into their lives

I want to be 'that' kind of 'people' and have 'that' kind of 'home'...

I don't want a 'Southern Living' home (no offense intended to 'Southern Living' - beautiful though the layouts may be in their magazine). I want a home that speaks of the people who live there. A home with a door ready to be opened to friend and family and strangers... A home where people can freely look for a blanket in the closet or Advil in the medicine cabinet or a mug in the cupboard...

I've never before considered how deeply spiritual a practice creating a home like I've described is, but it's certainly something I want to work toward. So creating space in my life to practice this each day is going to be necessary. Do you have certain spiritual habits that you 'do' while you straighten or clean or cook or decorate or organize? I'd love to hear about them.

The deeply spiritual practice of making a home that is open and welcoming to the stranger - true biblical hospitality - that's what I'm longing for. And that's what I've been thankful to have been reminded of in several homes this past month.

Peace & Presence,
MB