Home, Sweet Home

By Devin Dummel

There is something about this time of year that is magical.  The time around Thanksgiving and Christmas is a season full of many wonderful things and experiences.  Perhaps none more special or memorable than the traditions and celebrations that we share with family.

There is a reason that the saying is “Home, sweet home.”  And whether you are returning to your childhood home, or creating a space for your children to return to one day and call home, there is nothing more satisfying and heartwarming than spending this special time of year with the ones we love in the places that we feel most loved.

The unconditional love of the family is truly a unique and treasured thing in our world.  It is life giving and restorative.  These special treks home provide ample food for the journey and encouragement to press on through life’s trials and frustrations.

It’s a beautiful thing, when you think about it.  And the unconditional love of the family is not an accident.  It was created with purpose and meaning.  God created us all in His image, and the love of the family is designed to be an extension of His unconditional love.

The Apostle Paul described this love in these terms:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5)

You may not realize this but you and your family are an extension of this same love.  You were designed this way and your hearts are built for this type of unconditional love.  This is why we are compelled to see past each other’s flaws and stick close together as a family.

And while your family may not be perfect, and this Christmas season you may have your fair share of family drama and frustrations – the fact remains that this same love that God demonstrates for us – this “I know who you are, your faults and all, and I still love you” type of love – is the same love that God has endowed our family with.

So during this special season, let that love shine through.  Make history in your family and demonstrate the great mercy of God.  Allow the heart of God to be displayed in all your words, in your actions and in the things that you treasure during this season.

Be part of creating a space where your family will not only know of the love of God but will experience first-hand what it’s like to know the unconditional love of the family of God.  Help create a space where your children, your spouse, and your extended family can sit back, relax, and think to themselves “Home, sweet home.

Home is Where the Heart Is

By Devin Dummel

It’s likely that at some point in your experience, somewhere you have stumbled across a sign that read “Home is where the heart is”.  It’s a saying that has been around for a long time and often when it’s stated it means that:  Wherever your heart is, that place is your true home.  The place that you feel most appreciated and loved, is the place where you feel most comfortable.

It’s not necessarily your house, or a building made of bricks, mortar, stone or wood – but it’s wherever your heart feels most at peace.  It really can be anywhere.  You may feel most at home at a friends’ house, or you may feel most at home hidden away in the library.  Where ever it is that you feel most content, that is where your heart is.

This is a traditional understanding of this statement, but I want to encourage you and even challenge you to think about this idea of “home is where the heart is” in a different light altogether.

We believe that God has created two very powerful influences that He desires to use strategically in the life of every child.  Theses influences are the family and the church.  They both exist because God initiated them, and He desires to use them to restore and redeem our broken world.

We believe that the church is designed to be God’s bright light to the world, uniquely and strategically displaying God’s glory for all to see.  And we believe that God designed the family to demonstrate the warm heart of God.

God designed the family, even in its imperfection, to display the heart of God to every generation.  It’s his plan and desire that His heart would be communicated primarily through the heart and love of the family.  That’s why parents are the primary influence in the life of every child.

Understanding these two influences, what could it look like to understand the idea of “Home is where the heart is” through the lens of how God designed the family?  Specifically, when we say “Home is where THE heart is” – what we could really be saying is: “Home is where God’s heart is.”  It’s has always been God’s design that the family would be a consistent witness to the next generation.  Even early on God instructed His people, to make sure that His heart was known and passed down from generation to generation.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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 your gates. 

God understood the role of the home, which makes sense because He designed the influence of the family.  And one of the most crucial roles that the family plays – that our homes are responsible for – is to be a witness to the next generation about who God is and what it looks like to live a life that honors Him.

You may not realize this, but what you do in your home each week matters.  You may not view it this way, but when you think about it – you are always making history in the life of your child.  What you do every week, through your normal routines and rhythms adds up and give you momentum in the life of your children.

You are the living, breathing, walking, talking, pinch your cheeks to prove that you are real, witness for Christ every week at home.  And while that may seem like a lot of pressure, it reality is it is a great opportunity. 

You are the greatest influence in the life of your child – so you can impress upon them the heart of God.  You can talk with them around the table, when you drive to school or sports, and when they wake up of before the go to bed.  You can find creative ways around your house to “tie symbols” and “paint doorframes”.  You can make sure that they experience and know the heart of God consistently.  You can make sure that YOUR home is where God’s heart is.”  And that will make all the difference in the life of your child … and even in this world.

There's No Place Like Home

By Devin Dummel

Ever since Dorothy uttered these iconic words, “There’s no place like home”, many have begun to understand the influence of the home.  There is something special about the home, about our family dynamics and the impact they can make in the life of each child.  We believe that no one has more potential to influence a child than their parents. 

While we love spending time with kids and students of all ages, the reality is we don’t get a large quantity of time to make an impact.  We may get somewhere between 40-60 hours a year with your child.  But parents average 3,000 hours a year to influence their children.  The truth is what happens in those 3,000 hours matters a great deal.  So what you do this week matters and what happens at home matters.  There truly is no place like home.

Over the next few weeks we are going to look at some of the key qualities of an influential home.  Just as you would look for certain things when buying a new home or redecorating your current home, we need to keep our eyes focused on the spiritual qualities that we are looking for and want to develop in our home.

The first place we will start is with the quality of love.  Love is the backbone to the home.  It is one of the main purposes of the family, and God designed the family to express his love for every child – from generation to generation.  Too often we forget that truth, and while we understand that families should “love” each other, we have embraced defining love in our own familial terms.  What we must refocus on is God’s love and how we can demonstrate that as a family.

Ephesians 5:1-2 says,

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice.”

Notice how the Apostle Paul describes how we are to follow God – through sacrificial love.  We are called to love “just as Christ loved us”.  It means that we must lay down our own desires and consistently put others first.  This is part of our offering to God.  Unfortunately, we don’t always show this type of love at home.

If you and your home are one of the greatest influences in the life of your child, then right now you are making history.  You are molding and shaping your child for the next generation.  What you do on a day to day basis, how you choose to model your life, and what type of love you choose to demonstrate at home have an enormous impact.  The reality is when we shape our homes we are not just setting a course for our spiritual future.  We are plotting a spiritual path for our children.

Paul goes on to describe what this self-sacrificing love looks like:  “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place … for this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person … has any inheritance in the kingdom of God.”

This week, we challenge you to remember that, there is no place like home.  The example you set, in how you love your family will leave a lasting mark.  You have the choice on if you will demonstrate your own version of love, or if you will follow God’s example through consistent and intentional moments of sacrificial love.  Which path are you charting for your children?  Are you leading them toward the Kingdom of God? 

It’s our hope and goal to come alongside you and help you leverage all the influence your home has, pointing your children and others toward the Kingdom of God.  Because someday that will be our forever home … and there is no place like home.