“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Proverbs 24:3-4

“I need to get more laundry baskets, and shelving for them to stay organized in the laundry room,” I told my friend over coffee one day. I started there and I made this long list of things I needed to buy in order to get our house in order. Looking at the list, I got overwhelmed, realizing how much money and time we would need to buy and install all these systems for organization of all of our stuff. After a few minutes of fretting, I did what I should have done all along.

I brought the Holy into Housework and asked the Lord what to do about this situation of our messy closets.

It sounds kind of silly, right? Like, I could have just gone to the closet and started chunking things. But this Jesus who died to give us relationship with Him actually loves for us to talk to Him about everything, even mundane chores and housekeeping. When my mind was reeling, thinking about how we really needed (LoL!) a larger home with one more bedroom and larger closets,

His wisdom whispered, calm down, daughter, I give you everything you need when you need it.

A few days later, my tune changed to this: “We spent the day cleaning out our closet and now I don’t need baskets or shelves anymore!”

LOL! Did you see that, friends? How the enemy had me anxious, feeling like we didn’t have enough, and the Lord whispered and showed me we were holding onto too much. All we needed to do was get rid of the things that weren’t precious and pleasant riches so we could better care for all the wonderful real precious and pleasant riches we already had (i.e. enough clothing to wear something different everyday of the week, which many people in the world would be honored to have).

Maybe you are like me, struggling to see how Wisdom Himself has already blessed your house richly with precious and pleasant riches, but you have too much junk to see and appreciate it. Or maybe you really do have a need in your home right now. I can’t tell you how many times the Lord has blown my socks off by his timely provision after I have asked Him for what our family needed. Go to Him, and he will provide what you need.

Whatever the situation, He holds all knowledge to help you rid your house of unnecessary, life-snatching clutter and replace it with valuable, life-giving treasures. The Lord delights in helping us build and establish our homes, so I encourage you today, to:

1 Thank the Lord for the precious and pleasant treasures in your home

2 Think about how you can care for them today as an act of worship to Him, the Giver

3 If there are any needs, pray and ask Him to meet them (He may surprise you like He did me, and answer in an unexpected way, but TRUST He will answer!)

And remember, sisters, the most precious and pleasant treasure is Jesus himself, alive and present in our homes! The last day of Refocused on Home is tomorrow, sweet friends! Praying you will finish strong as we look at two sisters and Jesus blessed as most important in homemaking.

✨New Here? I’m blogging through my Bible Study, “Refocused: Fixing your eyes in Jesus for the road ahead.” Resources: Download the study free HERE OR You can can buy the study here: Refocused Bible Study

Praying for You,

Amy

Refocused on Home Day 3

Colossians 3:23-34

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

When we were adopting our daughter from Uganda, a small country in East Africa, I woke up most mornings to the sounds of hard, repetitive housework. I heard brooms made out of dried banana leaves sweeping my neighbor’s back porch.

Brush, Brush, Brush, Brush.

I heard pots and dishes clanging together outside as the women washed and prepared their meals for the day in their kitchens—their outdoor washing bins and their pots that cooked over outdoor fires.

Bang, bang,

clang, clang,

stir, stir.

They handwashed their clothing outside in buckets and then hung them to dry in the hot sun just a few miles from the equator.

Yes ladies, we have it made in our gourmet indoor kitchens with GE appliances.

Or do we?

Yes, it is convenient. But have we lost the sacredness of homemaking with our super quick machines? I think the answer is no. I learned some principles from my hard working Ugandan friends while watching their joy, dedication and strength.

Yes, we are serving our families, but whom does this passage remind us we are ultimately serving? How did Colossians speak to you about mundane, repetitive housework?

I’m continuing to ask the Lord to help me see the Holy in housework. Praying the same over you, friend. Two more days of “Refocused on Home!”

✨New Here? I’m blogging through my Bible Study, “Refocused: Fixing your eyes in Jesus for the road ahead.” Resources: Download the study free HERE OR You can can buy the study here: Refocused Bible Study

Praying for you!

Amy

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3

The most important point of Jesus’s words here is the fact that He will be at this place. He has gone to PREPARE a place to commune with Him forever! What a privilege to mirror his example by creating and maintaining a place for ourselves and our families to fellowship with Jesus in our homes while he is preparing our eternal home! -Refocused Bible Study

Jesus is our Prince of Peace How can we prepare places of peace in our home? What areas in your home are causing chaos instead of calm?

For me, lately, it’s been our daughters’ room. Two girls sharing a bedroom means a lot of…clothes…pocketbooks, lonely socks, confetti…I could go on and on. Oh how thankful I am to write those words. Having girls is fun! Crafts and fashion shows are some of our favorite past times, but with all the crazy fun comes all the crazy mess.

Unfortunately, the girls enjoy the fun but not so much the cleaning! (They take after their mama, I confess.) So, in order to keep that room somewhat in order, I have to go through it about once a week. I am constantly going in there with a trash bag, filling it full of things to donate and throw away (because no one wants one lonely sock or earring). This rhythm of once a week “going through stuff” creates a stream of peace behind me.

What weekly rhythm can you put into place to create peace in your space?  

The peace that flows behind me are little girls who can go into their drawer and find two socks because the lonely ones aren’t in the way. It’s them feeling good about the shirt they put on, because it still fits and isn’t to small because I’ve gone through and taken out the ones that were getting too snug. It’s also them learning to take care of the things their Heavenly Father has blessed them with, and passing it all on to their little cousins and friends as soon as we are done with it, thinking of others and in turn being a blessing. Their little bedroom can reflect their Savior who loves them. They can lay down on the fluffy new mattresses and pull up their soft comforters and be told God provides all their needs so they can lay their heads down in peace. They can talk to Him in the quiet and know that their parents who lovingly created this space for them to dwell in gives just a glimpse of the love their Savior who has gone to prepare their eternal home has for them.

This mentality brings the Holy into Housework. God has given us a beautiful opportunity to reflect His goodness in our homes. Let’s seize it and praise Him all the way. What area of your home are you going to focus on this week?

✨New Here? I’m blogging through my Bible Study, “Refocused: Fixing your eyes in Jesus for the road ahead.” Resources: Download the study free HERE OR You can can buy the study here: Refocused Bible Study

Praying for you!

Amy

Setting our Housework on a FIRM FOUNDATION

I love all the rocks in this picture. They lay on top of the concrete foundation of the house I had the honor to help construct a few years ago in Jamaica. Like I wrote about in the study guide, the foundation had been laid before we started our work. This picture was taken after we framed the house. We wrote scripture under what would hold up her flooring.

She is LITERALLY walking around on her firm foundation of Christ’s Word now in her new home! THIS thought makes me want to do cartwheels! Not only is this woman walking on his Word, she is walking IN his Word. The lady who received this home is a daughter of God. When we handed her the keys, we gathered around inside her home, and God released a flood of his Spirit through her as she blessed us with her heartfelt thanks and a charge to continue to love others with the love of Christ. It was amazing!

It was a sacred moment that could only be captured in the hearts of those standing upon those freshly cut and hammered boards. She laid her foundation that day for serving the Lord in the home she had been given. We prayed over her and this shelter the Lord had so richly blessed her with. We prayed for the physical elements of wind and rain that would no doubt be brought in by the Caribbean Sea that sets a beautiful backdrop outside her window.

Today I asked you to examine what your foundation was. To revisit the reasons you work so hard in your homes for your families. It is so easy to forget the solid Rock of Christ that we stand on as believers.

A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today I ask you to examine what your foundation is for homemaking. To revisit the reasons you work so hard in your homes for your families. It is so easy to forget the solid Rock of Christ that we stand on as believers.

I urge all of us to ask Jesus daily to refine our purpose for all this work it takes to make a house a home. To throw off the reasons that will leave us frustrated and tired. It’s not for our pride, for measuring up to others, for approval of our husbands, or for our obsessive compulsiveness that we are to tend to these temporary shelters.

It’s for Jesus. It’s for his glory. It’s through his Spirit, pouring out of us.

It’s going to bless our families. I’m praying we will be WISE women who build their homes, not foolish ones who tear them down, unsatisfied because we’ve built our homes on sand. As your feet walk around your homes working today, remember the foundation of Christ they tread upon! Put his word into practice and your homes will stand firm. ❤️

✨New Here? I’m blogging through my Bible Study, “Refocused: Fixing your eyes in Jesus for the road ahead.”

Resources below:Download the study free HERE

OR

You can can buy the study here: Refocused Bible Study

Praying for you,

Amy

Excerpt from Refocused Bible Study:Parenting Day 5

“When God reminded me of this passage, all my immediate responsibilities of the moment grew dim in light of His responsibilities at that moment in time. I mean, Jesus was sustaining the whole world, here on a mission of salvation of all his people, healing people with time sensitive illnesses, imparting spiritual truths, and many more “important” activities at the very moment these children were brought to him. And he STOPPED. He praised their faith. He blessed them. I tear up thinking of the times I have failed to stop and snuggle and bless my children when I have thought myself too busy. But His mercies are new every morning, and I am so thankful he brought this passage to my attention to apply it to my mothering. I pray he does the same in your mothering.”

Mark 10

Jesus Blesses the Children

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them.

The parents brought their children to Jesus.  

But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

The world tells us children aren’t important.  

When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples.

Mark 10:13-14 Words in other translations:

IRATE.

INDIGNANT.

MUCH DISPLEASED.

FURIOUS.

IRRITATED.

Jesus was hot about this! How dare they scold the parents and not allow the children to come to Him! He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. The disciples had it all wrong. Jesus saw the children not as a distraction from the important things, but AS THE IMPORTANT THINGS.

15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.

Here is where the term “childlike faith’ comes from. We can learn so much from them!

16Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.

Our application: TAKE YOUR CHILDREN IN YOUR ARMS.

Put down the seemingly important things, and pick up THE IMPORTANT THINGS.

Put your hands on them before they eat their meals at the table, and bless them in the name of Jesus. Follow His example, and let his Words ring in your ears the next time your heart forgets. Ask Him to help you see your beautiful children through his eyes. I pray that this week has been a blessing to you as we’ve #REFOCUSED ON PARENTING!

Question: What’s one thing that could be stealing attention from your children that is not necessary, and your plans to battle this on the road ahead.

✨New Here? I’m blogging through my Bible Study, “Refocused: Fixing your eyes in Jesus for the road ahead.”

This week is Motherhood Week!

Next week we wrap up with Home Week! I hope you’ll follow along!

Resources below:Download the study free HERE

OR

You can can buy the study here: Refocused Bible Study

Praying for you,

Amy