New Year, New Home
New Year’s resolutions come and go. Did you know that a mere 1% of the population who make New Year’s Resolutions keep them for the year? In fact, January 17th is known as Quitter’s Day because an astounding 80% of people give up on their resolutions by then.
I’ll be the first to admit, I have never made them. For me, new year’s resolutions statistically always fail for three reasons: We are busy. We are tired. And quite frankly, we can be pretty lazy as well. Procastinating, prioritizing the wrong things, making resolutions for the wrong reasons, or being unrealistic with changes are many reasons that cause failure. Another very common reason is that we live in a mess.
After we throw all our energy at our children, our careers, life’s problems, running errands, and/or playing taxi we look at our homes that we don’t have the energy to maintain and it takes every last drop of energy we have left. Instead of walking through our front door and being greeted by a fresh, light fragrance and perfectly hung pictures, we walk into a muddy kitchen floor and piles of clutter covering every flat surface in our homes. I know after a long day of appointments, errands, or work, tackling those piles or mopping up mud for the 42nd time in a month, isn’t energizing.
Creativity and artistry are important to God or he wouldn’t have created a world and filled it with beautiful things for our enjoyment. Imagine a world without sunsets or colorful flowers? Or without glistening snow and ice weighing down the branches of our bare, gray winter landscapes. Imagine hiking through the mountains and not having scenic views. God created them all for our enjoyment.
And He created us for His enjoyment. He bestowed in us His creative wisdom (Exodus 35:35). God doesn’t leave us to find our own way. As a woman, my heart always longs to be home because that’s how God intended it. As a business owner, I’m not at all stating that being a career woman is unbiblical. Proverbs 31 disproves that. But I’m not too proud to admit that my heart has often been more rooted in my work than it has in my home off and on over the years.
So this year, I’m making my very first New Year’s resolution—to glorify God through my home. Proverbs 14:1 says, “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.” He calls us to build our homes on His wisdom. If that’s His will for us as women, we can be confident that he has given us the resources to fulfill that role. Your marital status or whether or not you have children doesn’t matter in this verse. It’s doesn’t say wife or mother. It doesn’t even say homeowner or renter or artist or crafty people. It addresses women.
I’ve come up with a step-by-step process that will take the overwhelming and unsightly mess we call home and turn it into a beautiful and welcoming haven to entertain in. Enjoying your home will not only increase your energy and bring joy to your spirit, but it will be a safe, welcoming place to rest—the very rest that Jesus promises us when we lay our burdens at His feet. I hope you will consider joining me in not only defining what God has in store for us in this verse, but also for living it and creating a home for the people you love—whether it be guests or your family!
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