Deuteronomy 6:4-7 reads ““Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home . . . “
When we began searching for the home to buy when we were transferred here from New England, I learned something wonderful. Just by walking through homes, I could tell which was a Christian home. All homes are an expression of what the family values and it mattered to me what we would be following.
So I asked myself, “How long would it take for someone to be in our home before our guest knew that the Reilly Bed & Breakfast was a home that valued family, life, and Christ?” What magazines and books were on the shelves, pictures on the walls, DVDs, CDs on the racks, reading material in the 2 ½ libraries.
Psalm 101:2-3 reads, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” 1 Corinthians 10:23 states, “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.” Psalm 119:37a shared, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.” This has been our mantra and the basis for setting media (video and music) standards for the family. This takes lots of love, patience, humor, communication, and prayer. Consistency was the key for us.
De!! Amen!! (let it be so) Your house loves on all who darn its doorways as we surround our guests with our hospitality of our ways which speak out through our home. I couldn’t agree more strongly. When we move – I pray that our home is not just a house. That our home is a place that shines Gods love and hospitality to others – especially those that do not know the Lord, Christian or not. That our home reaches out to those that need Him – shines His light to them in hopes that they too will ask Him to be Lord of their lives…
And YOUR home always smells like “Holy Spirit Vanilla” . . . miss you, my friend.