Making Room…for the Word of God
Today I’m delighted to once again be participating in the Hearts at Home blog hop. “Hearts at Home seeks to encourage, equip, and educate every mom in every season of motherhood using Christian values to strengthen families.” If you’re in search of a few new tips for organizing your life in the new year, be sure to visit some of the other blogging mamas who are sharing their great ideas today.
I was buried in piles of old clothes and shabby shoes when my six-year-old poked her head into the master closet. “What are you doing in there, Mom?” Elizabeth asked.
“Making room for the baby,” I explained as I squeezed my bulging stomach past the economy-sized box of diapers barricading the doorway. We had never intended to fit a family of six into our modest three-bedroom home, but I had long ago learned that God’s plans don’t always follow mine. One month from due-date, I finally slipped into action. Some serious engineering would make room for our unexpected fourth-born.
In the days that followed I was a merry-maid on the loose! I re-organized shelves, cleaned cupboards and marveled at the elbow room I unearthed along the way. I was admiring my clutter-free kitchen and paging through my Bible one morning when God interrupted my mission with an uncanny dose of truth. Let the Word of Christ, the Message, have the run of the house…Give it plenty of room in your lives (Colossians 3:16, The Message).
I considered the scripture’s challenge with a touch of guilt. I did my best to squeeze in some Bible reading here and a quick family devotion there. I shoved things aside to make room for Sunday worship and subscribed to a Christian magazine. But my day-to-day reality was stuffed full like my overflowing closets. Surely God didn’t expect me to give the Message the run of the house while my rooms were crammed with little feet.
It wasn’t until baby Joshua arrived that I began to reconsider my flippant response to the Colossians command. As our newborn created a fresh infusion of joy. I shuddered to think of the blessings we’d have missed if we hadn’t made room for our latest miracle. Humbled, I wondered how many unsolicited blessings I had already forfeited because I’d failed to make room for God’s Word. If I could convert a crowded home into an ample space for a baby to grow, surely I could transform my muddled life into a spacious place for the Message to roam.
Despite my grand intentions, I learned quickly that sorting through my overstuffed life was far more complicated than reorganizing disheveled closet. While shirts and shoes could be eliminated, much of the stuff that filled my days was indispensable. Carpooling, cooking and cleaning; managing laundry, diapers, and deadlines-the list was endless and unpredictable.
I was ready to give up when a jumbled journal entry offered me fresh perspective. “I took a pregnancy test today…” I had written after discovering that our surprise baby was on the way. “I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry…” Page after page, I had pondered the impending change-the addition of another car seat in the minivan, the challenge of meeting deadlines amidst round-the-clock feedings, the joy of watching another toddler learn to walk. As I reread my scribbles, I realized a momentous truth. The baby that I’d grown in my womb had first grown to completion in my mind. When my new son finally arrived, I had not only cleared space for his crib; I had made room for him in my heart. Though I didn’t fully realize it at the time, I had stumbled on the key to the Colossians command. Making room for the Word in your life begins in your mind.
That baby who spurred my frenzied home overhaul now leaves mud tracks across my kitchen floor with his little sister not far behind. My shelves have become a jumbled clutter of outgrown infant paraphernalia and abandoned maternity clothes. No doubt, I could use a bit of new year’s organization (I’ll be sure to read my fellow bloggers’ tips today).
But since the birth of my fourth-born, I’ve learned that even more important than my efforts to clear space in my closets and cupboards is my commitment to create space for the Word of God. I may not be able to roam freely down my hallways that are barricaded with toys, but I hope to create a home where the Message of Christ can roam freely through my life.
But since the birth of my fourth-born, I’ve learned that even more important than my efforts to clear space in my closets and cupboards is my commitment to create space for the Word of God. I may not be able to roam freely down my hallways that are barricaded with toys, but I hope to create a home where the Message of Christ can roam freely through my life.
One of my favorite ways to make room for God’s Word is to keep it in plain view. I do that by hanging verses on this little window in my kitchen. I try to change the verse monthly and then use the chosen scripture for Bible memory work and family activities all through the month. (Visit me here each Friday for some great ideas on how to bring the Word to life in fun and crazy ways!).
My real windows may be covered with fingerprints, but this window helps us to cover our hearts with the Word of Life.If you can’t track down an old window to hang, don’t worry about it. We love window markers, too. This marvelous invention by Crayola writes on glass and wipes off easily with a glass cleaner. Sometimes we just plaster God’s Word- complete with the kids’ original artwork-on mirrors, bedroom windows and sliding glass doors. Give it a try and see if the clutter in your mind clears a bit as you take God’s Word off the shelf and give it the run of your house!
The Overflow: Let the Word of Christ, the Message, have the run of the house…Give it plenty of room in your lives (Colossians 3:16, The Message).
The Overflow: Let the Word of Christ, the Message, have the run of the house…Give it plenty of room in your lives (Colossians 3:16, The Message).
How many times have I made room for things, but had no time for Him. I must remember to be a Mary, not a Martha! Thanks for linking up at Painting Prose, it’s wonderful to see you there!
YES! YES! YES!!
LOVE it!
I am going to start putting this to work in my home immediately!
I love your scripture window!
The link still took me to the Nov post, but I found my way here. Love the point you make. Sometimes I feel guilty for my lack of organization and then I remember a clean, tidy home really isn’t the point. And thanks for the encouragement on the window markers. I have been wondering if those work.
Oops! Now I’m showing how un-techy I am 🙂 Sorry for the wrong link. I hope my second try works better than my first!
Love this post, and plan to putter around your blog and read more. (And I will sure to stop by again tomorrow!)
Also, wanted to let you know that when I clicked on the “linky” it actually took me to your HAH post for November.
Appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks so much for your perspective today! I am working on filling up our spaces with more visuals of God’s word and love hearing how you’re doing this!