Being A Guest at Home

Hello Dear Ladies,

The paintings today are by Judy Gibson. I love that some of her paintings depict the inside of the home. 

 There are some ladies who can make a home anywhere. I knew someone who had spent a lot of time in a hotel room, while her husband conducted business in a certain town. She brought her own furnishings in the way of cushions, quilts and rugs, and also her own dishes and a tea set. She had pictures in little stand-up frames, and her books and things. There she invited friends sometimes to visit her. She had a sewing machine and made a quilt while living in temporary circumstances.

While we often reserve our best for guests, let us today consider how we may enjoy the comforts of our own homes when we do not have guests.  How about treating yourself and your family to all the niceties and luxuries you would normally save for visitors?

 It is not always possible to get people to agree to accept hospitality and this can be disappointing.  I would like to share a few things that my family did during what we call our "wilderness years"; a time when other people's lives were too busy to accept an invitation to an evening at home. We often would put it in our minds that we were the invited guests, by changing our home into a lodge in the mountains, a resort by the sea, a house on the prairie.  To be a guest was quite an experience, and children always played it up to the fullest.  

When I was growing up in a log home in the wilderness of Alaska, my mother taught us how to occupy our time during the winter months when one dark day seemed the same as the next. She would take us on train trips,  boat trips, horse and carriage rides,  and visits to other places just by arranging the chairs to resemble the mode of travel. She used blankets and other things to create the scenery and we children had no difficulty imagining the rest. In the summer, we went on adventurous vacations without leaving home. With sheets fresh off the line, our bedrooms became fancy hotel rooms in another place.

In the seriousness of our personal lives and the culture around us, Christian ladies sometimes feel that it is too self-indulgent to enjoy the things at home that would usually be offered to guests, but even Jesus went away to be alone and be refreshed. (Matthew 14:13,23) We ladies at home need both spiritual and physical rest and revival if we are to have a sound mind to create a home and guide our families.

Ladies have to be careful not to be so realistic and practical that life loses its enjoyable side.

"I used to wait for company before I felt I could light the fireplace or make tea in my favorite tea set. I never thought I needed to pamper myself in any way, and now have seen the value of it. " writes a friend. She also recognized that while she attended several Bible studies during the week, that she needed her own personal Bible study time where her mind could relax and take in things at her own pace.  

Ladies I hope you will remember each day to do something of comfort and personal revival for yourself and not think it should always be saved for someone else. Helen Andelin spoke of this sort of thing in her book, "Fascinating Womanhood" when she wrote that women should try to maintain self-dignity by taking care of themselves. I agree with that.  Sometimes home life can be so busy that it is easy to neglect your appearance or your little luxuries like sitting in your own living room to catch up on reading and other things that make you feel relaxed.

There are those in the world who believe a homemaker does not deserve to have any leisure because she is "not working" (in their view) but guiding the home and keeping the home is not always about physical work. It is about being content and inspiring others to be their best. Sometimes all it takes to accomplish that is to take care of yourself.

I hope you will click on this song and be encouraged by it. The words say, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face." One way to spiritually "see" the "face of Jesus is to read His word that He revealed.  Reading the New Testament will show you the "face" of Jesus, and give you understanding of this life and His purpose for you. If you spent 15 minutes a day reading the New Testament, you would be able to complete the entire testament in a short while and "look full in His wonderful face."

Please click on the picture below and hear the song. 

Thank you for your encouraging comments and for all you do for me and other homemakers who blog, for the churches and for your families.

If you have never left a comment, it is easy to click on the word "comments" and a space will appear for you to write. I love hearing from you! And, if you are new to this blog, please look around and check the blog-roll on the left that features other ladies who share their homes and their talents.