East or West...

...Home is best. I've always loved the rhyme in this phrase...and yet it should be the reality we all live in especially as Mrs. Pastor.

Your home has to be the best - a place of rest, a haven, a stronghold, a spa, a refreshment centre and the list goes on. With how busy our daily lives are - whether we work full-time/part-time in ministry, have a professional career, outside-the-home or stay-at-home/work from home jobs - it is so easy to let our busy-ness spill into our homes. That is definitely one thing we must all be vigilant about and guard against because it's one area that too often slips through our fingers all in the name of "being in the ministry".

Now I'm not saying that you should close your home to others - definitely not!!! Your home should be a place where others feel welcome but it also needs to be a place where your family wants to come back to. Imagine children avoiding coming home just because their homes are...more like houses than homes.

Indeed there is a difference...every home started by being a house but not every house becomes a home. A home is a place that is built with hands as much as with hearts. Dr William A Ward said “A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”

Proverbs 14:1 adds to that:

A wise woman builds her home,

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. (NLT)

A woman's family is held together by her wisdom,

but it can be destroyed by her foolishness. (CEV)

I also like this Mexican proverb:

"The house does not rest upon the ground,

but upon a woman."

So we can make or mar our homes -

the building materials are in our hands (and are our hands and hearts).

Proverbs 24:3 takes it a step further: "Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family) built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation]. (Amplified)

Essentially your home is what you make it and you "make it" that but what you do and by what you do not do - homes don't just happen. We have to be purposeful and skilful about it - that includes seeking guidance from God and feedback from your family regularly.

Imagine for a moment, that when your husband is home he doesn't notice the difference because "the church" is always at home or you're not there? Much as you welcome people to your home, there must be boundaries. I know there are times when people call us up and we have gone to the hospital in the middle of the night to encourage a couple having their first baby - there have also been times when we have prayed with them over the phone and reassure them that God is with them...as we well know He is. We have also had times when people call because they need to come over right away to talk - some we have allowed to come over, others we have gone to see, some we have postponed to a more suitable time and some others we have delegated to other brethren to handle.

Over the years, I have learned that there is no "One size fits all" in ministry but I know that East or West, your home should always be best...and it must remain your home where your family is knit and held together. I sure do not want my children to be put off from ministry because they never connected with their home so I am being skilful and wise about the seeds I'm sowing - we all should. God will help us...