What makes your house a home?

Our family has been going through several house moves lately, which has me wondering what makes a house a home. Is it a comfy sofa, a special chair or having a little spot you can call your own? Maybe it involves the smells of a hot meal cooking in the kitchen or laughter at the dinner table? Perhaps it is the sight of family pictures on the wall or your favorite candles burning. What do you picture when you think of “home”?

For me, I have a vision for how a home should feel but I think it can be pretty hard to attain in reality. Maybe my expectations are too high? I think a “home” should be a place that makes you feel safe, secure, loved, and free to be you. Plus, some warm and cozy thrown in for good measure. It doesn’t have to look any particular way. It just has to have a certain feel. Easy…peasy right?

I think building a real “home” is pretty darn hard. When I look to scriptures, I am reminded that this world is not our permanent home. That we can look forward to a home that is yet to come. I can do my best to create a welcoming and lovely place to live, but there is a greater place. A house that is being prepared for each of us as we speak. One that is built by the greatest architect of all.

The Lord gives us little glimpse from time to time here on earth of what we have to look forward to in the future. That “homey” can only come from the Lord and the Spirit that is within us. Sometimes I put too much pressure on myself to create a perfect and inviting home all on my own rather than focusing on the gifts that the master designer and created gives just from His presence.

In what ways do you try to make your house a home?

What adjectives would you use to describe a home?

Do you ever look for ways to make your house feel homier? What does that typically entail?

How does your current relationship with the Lord impact your relationship with your house?

Scripture

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Hebrews 13:14

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1

My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isaiah 32:18

(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Hebrews 3:4