By His Grace

Our Home – A Sanctuary

Our homes should be a place of refuge and protection from the world, a sanctuary.  Home should be a place where we can relax, renew and recharge. “There is no place like home” is an expression for a reason. As women, we have an incredible opportunity to make our homes a refuge from the world for both our family and for our guests.

The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. –     Proverbs 14:1 ESV

A wise woman is careful to build her home. Making our homes a place of beauty that reflects our personal taste is one of the greatest joys as a homemaker.

What are some practical ways that a wise woman can build her home?

This is my favorite time of the year. I cherish the art of hospitality and making my home a sanctuary. Over the course of the next few months, I would like to invite you into my home via the blog and share the beauty of the season with you.

I love to create beautiful flower arrangements, and seasonal decor to spruce things up and to keep it fresh. Pictured below is a floral arrangement in my dining room.

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Pictured above is a lovely little vignette for fall on my butler’s pantry.

[ctt template=”2″ link=”EaFXB” via=”yes” ]Creating a beautiful home that refreshes requires engaging all our senses.[/ctt]

We love playing musical instruments and listening to music. In fact, we have a dedicated music room in our home and have been known to pull out all our instruments when having friends over for dinner.

[ctt template=”2″ link=”J2MH0″ via=”yes” ]The type of music that you listen to within your home has a profound effect on the atmosphere of your home.[/ctt]

The kitchen is my happy place, and I love to create beautiful memories through food with family and friends. Making fresh home-cooked healthy meals is a joy for me, but even store-bought food can be presented beautifully with a little imagination and creativity. Pictured below is crusty sourdough bread with brie and an assortment of antipasto.

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I love diffusing essential oils, lighting candles, or fresh baking goodies to create a beautiful aroma that is pleasing to our sense of smell. Even a basket filled with potpourri can invigorate our senses.

I would love to know what you are doing to make your home a beautiful refuge from the world!

 

5 Things Gigi Taught Me

“Gigi”—the name we affectionately gave my husband’s mother. She taught me a lot about being a wife, a mother, and a Godly woman. It was not just in the things she said, but even more so in her actions. The way she lived her life had the greatest impact on me. She had her priorities straight: she loved God first, loved and served her husband second, and her children/grandchildren third, and finally loved others. I learned five key lessons from her:

1. The importance of hospitality and the family table: Gigi taught me that the conversations the family has around the table—be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and anytime in between—are the moments that we tie our heartstrings with our loved ones. Every time we would come to visit, she would have us sit at the kitchen table. She would offer me a piping hot fresh cup of coffee, and we would sit and talk for hours. When my husband and his brother were growing up, each day when they came home from school, she would sit them at the table, give them a snack, and talk to them about their day before they went out to play. As growing young men, they spent hours around that table with their parents. Many lively conversations were had around that table about life, morality, religion, politics, books, culture, and memories of family members. I was honored to marry into the family and join in this special time around the table. The times spent around the table with them kept our family grounded, our heartstrings tied to together, and created a lifetime of memories for us that we still hold dear.

2. Love your husband: Titus 2:4, says “and so train the young women to love their husbands and children.” Gigi loved her husband with her whole heart and put his needs before her own or that of her children or grandchildren. Gigi was a stay-at-home wife and spent her days anticipating her husband’s needs and doing things that would delight him. She would pick out her husband’s clothes, and make sure they were neat and pressed for him, and made sure he looked sharp as he headed out the door each morning. She prepared special meals for him, and always placed his desires above her own. He was a professional man working in the oil and gas industry, and he was a very successful man because his wife loved him, she exemplified Proverbs 31:1 which says, “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” This was especially true when my Father-in-law had a brain tumor and spent the last few years of his life in and out of the hospital and Gigi never left his side.

3. Love your children: Gigi loved her children with all her heart! Gigi was sweet and kind and gentle. She showed me how to love my children by the way she loved her children and her grandchildren. Gigi loved her children and spent time pouring into their lives, and the lives of their children. Hours were spent at the family table playing with Legos building towers and playing with play dough or coloring. She was always quick to give a hug and kiss, and tell you how much you were loved. She would write my children notes telling them how much they were valued and how special they were. She spent her time building them up and making them feel special and loved.

4. The importance of prayer: Gigi spent time with God in his Word, and she faithfully prayed for her family and those in need. She prayed for her family daily. She made sure her boys were in church, and she spent time teaching them to love the Lord. Gigi loved to journal and spent hours writing out prayers for her family.

5. Caring for those in need: Gigi loved people. She had her priorities straight—she loved God first and foremost, then her husband and that love extended out to her family, and finally then to others. Gigi faithfully lived out a 1 Corinthians 13 life: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it his not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” That was Gigi. Gigi had a very generous and giving spirit, and much like Matthew 25:36 “I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me,” she was quick to help a friend in need. She would visit those in the hospital and care for those less fortunate.

Gigi taught me many things about being a lady. She loved extravagantly while she lived on this earth. Now that she has passed on, we miss her incredibly, but our lives have been forever impacted by her actions. She left us with a remarkable legacy of love, and she lives on in our memory. The lessons she taught me along the way have challenged me to love God more, put my husband first, love my kids with all my heart, to be a good friend and to care for those in need.

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