A Haven

I linked up today to the Women Living Well blog. Courtney is talking about how to make your home a haven. This week's challenge is to light a candle and every time you see the flame, you are to offer up a prayer for peace in your home. I like having lit candles, especially cake candles. They smell so nice and cozy. But today I made a special effort to pray for my family and that peace would reign in this house. It's been a while since I have done that. And as I did that today, I started thinking about what speaks peace to me, and how my home conveys that thought. One thing that I did when I first got married and moved out here to Arizona was to pray over each room in my house, that it would bring peace and comfort to all who entered. We sold that house and then moved into our current house. I was just thinking today about whether I prayed over each room in this house. I can't remember. That is something that could be done again.
Things that speak peace and comfort to me are fires in stoves or fireplaces, lit candles, the smell of something baking or potpourri on the stove top simmering away, soft blankets, big over sized chairs and sofas that you sink into (not so great for the back, though!), a hot drink (coffee!), soothing music, quietness, and kids playing well together. I must confess some days I feel as though that last one is a dream, rather than a reality. And more than our home feeling like a peaceful haven for friends and visitors to come too, it's also got to feel that way to my husband and my kids. A lot of times it feels like when my husband walks through the door, I am ready to vent to him about my day. How tired I am, how the kids fought, which one I had trouble with, how school went, and on and on it goes. Do you think he enjoys coming home to that? Probably not! I am trying to teach myself to wait, to discuss those things after he's had a chance to sit down, relax, and the kids have gone to bed. That verse in Proverbs comes to mind, you know, the one about a nagging wife? I don't want that to be me! And  I don't want to be the wife who tears down the walls to her home. I also want our kids to feel as though this is a peaceful home. A place they want to come home to, to be in, to live life. To have the freedom to make mistakes and try again, and not be ridiculed. I have a long way to go, but God is changing my heart, opening my eyes to the ways in which I can improve the life of our home.