So, after my post about the Doorposts contest, I was glad that I was actually able to find the "talk" that I gave to MOPS back in 2008. It was so good to go back and read it {especially as we prepare for having people into our home and discuss the idea of moving out of this house more and more often}, so I'm just going to paste some paragraphs from it amongst the pictures. The theme for that year had to do with home, and it will help you make sense of some it to know that the topic at the first meeting I spoke at was interior decorating.
"...if you were ever to come to my house, you could take one look around and know that I have very little expertise in the area of decorating. In our family room, for example, we have a brown plaid loveseat with a slip cover that doesn’t really fit, along with an overstuffed gray chair, and a blue plaid arm chair…my decorating philosophy on that one was: they were free.
Just to give you a little background my husband and I met in college and got married in 2001, right after he graduated (I still had a semester of student teaching left). Well, not only did he get a beautiful wife (haha), but he also got $30,000 worth of college loans! Our plan was for me to teach for a few years to pay them off. Six months into our marriage we realized God’s plan was for us to have a few babies and find a way to live off his teaching salary! Our son Ethan came along in September 2002, our daughter Karis in September 2003, my husband went through some crippling back problems that ended up requiring surgery in 2005, Natalie came along in December 2006, and our son is expected to arrive in April.
Needless to say, I think I can count the things that we have actually bought to furnish and decorate our home on one hand. The rest has been given to us by friends and family, and although pieces rarely coordinate, we have been so blessed by their generosity. The Lord is teaching me to be satisfied with what we do have to make our home a comfortable one. We have so much more than some, and so much less than many others, but it is just right for us because we know it has all been provided by God for the here and now. He is also teaching me, as I slowly read through a book called Heaven, by Randy Alcorn (which I highly recommend), that my focus should be on decorating the home I’ll receive at Christ’s return. This is no easy task in our immediate gratification/materialistic society that pressures us to believe that if our children, our homes, and our own selves don’t look like they came off the pages of American Baby, Martha Stewart Living, and Self magazine we must be doing something wrong. I’ve been convicted to think about how I spend my time. Am I working for things that look good to the world, or am I working to store up things that will fill my eternal home? Are the things people see decorating my home things that are beautiful and expensive, or are framed fingerpaintings displaying the priceless treasures God has entrusted with me with? I don’t mean to say I’m going to neglect my home here on earth…I want to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with and I want our home to be one that builds relationships, creates memories and legacies, and glorifies the One that has given it to my husband and me, but I know I need to work hard to not get caught up accumulating things that will only fade away....
...A few years ago our pastor at Berean, gave a sermon where he highlighted the following verses in Deuteronomy 6… “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
At the time these verses were written, the Jews literally did these things. They had God’s commands written on paper that they strapped to their foreheads and wrists and boxes mounted to their doorframes with God’s words in them. As they prayed they would recite these things. I’m not so sure how literally God expects us to take these verses today, but I was convicted by the fact that these people felt it necessary to keep God’s words so accessible and visible as they went about their day. I was also reminded of the fact that, just as Christ is the gatekeeper for us, allowing us into his sheep pen (as it says in John 10) so that we may find salvation and shelter, my husband and I are called to be the gatekeepers of our home. We must provide shelter and protection for our children and be the filters, when possible, of the knowledge and information they take in.
At the time these verses were written, the Jews literally did these things. They had God’s commands written on paper that they strapped to their foreheads and wrists and boxes mounted to their doorframes with God’s words in them. As they prayed they would recite these things. I’m not so sure how literally God expects us to take these verses today, but I was convicted by the fact that these people felt it necessary to keep God’s words so accessible and visible as they went about their day. I was also reminded of the fact that, just as Christ is the gatekeeper for us, allowing us into his sheep pen (as it says in John 10) so that we may find salvation and shelter, my husband and I are called to be the gatekeepers of our home. We must provide shelter and protection for our children and be the filters, when possible, of the knowledge and information they take in.
At a time in my life when I consider it an accomplishment to even open my Bible at some point during the day, I began thinking to myself, how neat would it be to have the words of God covering the walls of our home? It would provide a perfect chance to memorize scripture, the daily opportunity for my family to read the words of our God, and a constant reminder of the life we can have in Him. The idea milled around in my head for a while as our family transitioned from one house to another. I looked at the beautiful paintings at the Bookery, but knew there was no way we could afford one of them, let alone one for every room of the house. I knew I had some artistic abilities, so I just began collecting verses in a prayer journal. Verses that spoke to me about what Christ’s hopes for me and my family might be. Verses I wanted my children to see every day as they grow up. Verses that I need to remind me of how my life needs to reflect Christ.
...my husband and I chose a verse for [Ethan and Karis'] bedroom that has been one of our prayers for our children. 1 Timothy 4:12 says “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I thought it an interesting coincidence, after I had spent a couple days thinking about what I would say the for this testimony the first time I gave it, that one evening while we were saying goodnight, Karis looked at the verse on the wall and asked “What does d-o-n-t spell?” I read the whole verse to her and Ethan and asked them if they knew what the words meant. What an opportunity to share with them what God expects from us as His followers, no matter how old or young we are. We talked about how one of the best ways to teach others about Jesus is by doing things that are good and right.
I would like to be able to say that there are verses in every room of our house by now. In actuality, I have only completed one more as a border above the cupboards in our kitchen. Matthew 6:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Our reminder that if our family plans to withstand the storms that might come our way, and we are sure the storms will come, we must find our strength in Christ."
I started the Song of Solomon verse above as a "headboard" for mine and Mark's room while I was pregnant with Levi. I got too pregnant to position myself on the bed to finish it...and almost 4 years later it remains the same. Sad, I know, but such is our life. I was finally able to really get a lot accomplished on Natalie and Karis' this past week {the I Peter 3:3-4 one} and, I LOVE how it is turning out.
Basically, my method is to use a laser level to chalk some straight lines. Then I chalk in all of my wording and paint over it. Sometimes I will type the verse up in Word in a font that I like, and then I copy that freehand. I just use an acrylic craft paint, but I'm thinking for my next one I may try those paint marker/pens they make. I want to get Ephesians 6...armor of God...up over our front door so we look at it each morning before heading to the bus stop.
