We are moving soon and I have begun the process of praying for the next home. I've always done this and I've always seen God provide in the most specific of Beth-ways. Home is important to me. God seems to know this.
I married into a characterless bachelor pad and moved within the year to a Chicago dream: a 1920s apartment with high ceilings and hardwood floors. I've missed those ceilings ever since!
But I hadn't yet learned the necessity of praying for something specific and felt too spiritual to ask God for something so material. We left for Turkey and were provided with a furnished apartment that included a plastic dining room set, a lime green swirled cardboard couch, and a foam bed.
I cried that first night and I think I learned my lesson: for an artistic person, aesthetics matter. I need to live with inspiration. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it has to have some element of beauty.
In Michigan I prayed for hardwood floors again. And once painstakingly redone, they were there! Back in Turkey long term I asked for a spacious living room to host all the students and our unit was the only one in the building missing a wall that would have shrunk the living/dining room. When we moved four years later with two kids, I asked for grass. We found the only home of anyone we knew which actually had a 10x12 foot plot of yard!
We found our Seattle home on Craigslist and prayed that the neighborhood school would be good, that we would have space for an office to study, and again, that there would be some beauty... we arrived to Christian neighbors, an amazing school, painted rooms that matched our stuff, an unexpected den, and an amazingly beautiful, landscaped yard!
And here I am again...
Funny how our prayers change and mingle with life stages.
As I daydream, I imagine that my new home will have counters that don't get dirty, floors which aren't nearly so loud when the kids run, and a kitchen that magically inspires me to cook again.
But in my prayers, I am sobered by Ella's friend who randomly spent 24 hours with us this weekend; who lives in an RV park with no hot water; who was overheard saying that it was one of the best days of her life; who had only recently met her two older brothers. Though I am still asking God for inspiration and good public schools and space for growing bodies, I am trying terribly hard to remember that I am rich in most of the world's eyes. I am praying the words of this beautiful song:
God Bless the Poor
Words and music by Brian McLaren, 2007, Brian McLaren. Publishing, Revolution of Hope Music Group SESAC 2007, all rights reserved. Registered with CCLI
God bless the poor
Bless them with the treasure that the rich take for granted
Bless them with true prosperity
To have all that they need, enough and then some more to share
And wisdom to enjoy the priceless blessings flowing everywhere
For free
God bless the rich
Bless them with the treasure that their money cannot buy
Bless them with generosity to realize we can only save the things we give away
And the only wealth worth having is the joy of having family
For free
God bless the wounded
The migrant and the refugee who see just to survive
Bless them with hospitality to keep their hope alive just one more day through strangers who in kindness open hands and doors and borders until all are safe
And free
God bless us all
Every child from here to Africa and in between
Bless us with gratitude to savor every breath, the gift of every present moment
And dance with all our strength within your rhythm and your music
To be free
3 comments:
Hey Beth. Really enjoyed reading this post. I love making a home that is a place of beauty and yet I am aware that there is so little beauty, much less provision, in the vast majority of peoples' lives. Most of my growing up years I did not live in a place that held beauty, or that was cared for. However, I often visited a couple of friends whose moms created such welcoming, beautiful (not fancy) homes. These places were such refuges for me...they gave me a tangible picture of the beauty I longed for but could not name.
I am so glad that Ella's friend was able to see the physical and spiritual beauty of your home. It is a lavish gift to children like her. It is a comfort that our Lord knows we need beautiful places. Doesn't He say, "I go to prepare a place for you."? Here's a prayer (and say one for me too,) that our delight in beauty does not move toward discontent.
blessings,
Melissa Nelson
I appreciate your thoughts. It's never occurred to me to pray for the place we are going. Good to have perspective and to ask for what's on your mind. If you find those always-clean counters I'd love to hear about them.
There are few places, Beth, where I can relax. I your home, however, I can. Truly. Deeply. Emotionally. Spiritually. I love your home and know others, who are blessed to spend time in it, do to. I will miss it...
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