Looking Forward and Planning Ahead

I think we can all agree that 2020 hasn’t been the most splendid year that we have all experienced. The year started off, in my opinion on rocky ground simply due to the fact that it is an election year. We began the year being bombarded with campaign ads and propaganda insisting we consider voting for this person or that person for one reason or another. Then in March life as we knew it, at least for this current season, came to a screeching halt when the COVID-19 pandemic hit our country. Slowly, for one reason or another, we began to see the true colors of the people we live and do life with come out. Social media became everyone’s stomping ground and the gloves came off. Opinions, thoughts, fears, and very little facts hit the comment sections of every Facebook post, twitter feed, and blog article. Families, friends, co-workers, and strangers alike have all become violently divided. Pair that with the social unrest for any number of reasons and it is just a recipe for disaster.

One thing that has come from the health crisis in our country is that we are all, as a nation, spending a lot more time in our homes. And we all realized we just aren’t really prepared for that type of living situation. You would thing that with my degree I would have been the one who was most prepared for the stay at home mandates, and in many cases I was. However, the thing that I have come to realize is that I really am not as prepared to spend every hour in my own home as I would like to be.

Over the course of the last 5+ years I have made it a point to choose a word or phrase to focus on for the year. I have chosen words like “Simple”, “Consistency” , “Faith” and for 2020 I chose not a word but a phrase” Tea and Cake”. Under normal circumstances I wait until then end of December before I begin to really nail down my focus for the new year. However, this year, while spending time in prayer and evaluation I have made the decision that I am going to begin my focus for the new year now, in November, as we move into the holiday season.

So what is this focus that will take over the last 2 months of 2020 and the whole of 2021? I’m glad you asked. I have felt the call and drive to focus on HOME. While I do the things I need to do to maintain my home-chores, meals, laundry, etc-I have really felt that one thing that was really lacking as we found ourselves moving into this pandemic era is the lack of warmth and comfort of home.

Make Your Home A Haven

The first thing I’m doing to begin my focus on HOME is to spend the month of November walking through the Women Living Well “Making Your Home A Haven” Bible Study. This study begins on November 2nd and will go through the whole month of November. The study combines focused Scripture passages as well as weekly challenges to make the home a warm, comfy, inviting place for your family who lives there as well as any travelers that might find their way into your home.

My goal with this study is to begin by making sure that the tone I am setting in my home is one that is entirely Christ- centered. One thing that has been discussed a lot lately is that it is not enough to make sure that God is at the top of my list as an item that I can just simply check off and move on, but rather God is incorporated in every aspect of my day. This “Making Your Home a Haven” study, I’m praying, will help to focus my thoughts, tone, and attitude to the right place.

The Home Experience

I have shared this book before I believe as one of the books on my reading list. Sadly, due to various life circumstances I just haven’t made it through the book. I plan on changing all that. While I spend the next 14 months intentionally focusing on my HOME and all that entails I am planning on going though the chapters in this book. There are 14 chapters so I will intentionally focus on one chapter a month. Each chapter comes with practical advice for various areas of the home as well as a study guide with questions that will help you put things into practice.

I will be working through the study questions and the challenges found in the book to center my focus back on my home and family. I plan to share my thoughts from the study questions and my prayer is that perhaps, as I begin my journey to be intentional in the focus of my home, you will be inspired to do so in whatever capacity God is leading you to as well.