What Makes a House a Home?

This September it will be exactly 3 years since we moved into our house.
I was just telling my husband that our house is finally feeling more and more like "home". It has taken almost 3 years to feel that way though. Over the years I have learned what does and does not make a house a home. I've learned that:

The size of a house doesn't make a home.
Having a spotless house doesn't make a home.
Having a "new" house (we built our own) does not make a home.


"Home" happens when memories are made:
Playing board games around the kitchen table, sharing meals and holidays, bringing home a new baby, learning how to ride a bike, planting a family garden, backyard picnics, counting stars on the back deck, making smores by the fire, baking apple pie, canning summer's bounty...

"Home" happens when first steps are taken, first words are spoken, laughter fills the air, fingerprints decorate the wall, and love fills the hearts.

But most importantly "home" happens when the Lord is the builder. Build defined is: Webster: 1. … to form by uniting materials into a regular structure… 2. To raise or place on a foundation… 3. To increase and strengthen; to increase the power and stability of; to settle, or establish, and preserve.
It is the LORD only that strengthens a home and gives it stability and the ability to last. Is the Lord the builder of your home?

What makes your house a home?

Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house,its builders labor in vain.


Proverbs 24:3-4
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.


Proverbs 14:1
A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Titus 2:3-5
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed"

The Lordship Of Christ In Our Homes

May God’s peace be upon this house
That God has blessed you with
A home that reflects His awesome love
And the grace He freely gives

May it be a home with open doors
That welcomes strangers in
And makes them feel loved and accepted
Knowing that God dwells within

Our homes should be more than a house
Where we live day by day
It should be a place where God can reign
And precious memories are made

For as we establish in our homes
The Lordship of Jesus Christ
We invite His presence to come and dwell
And fill each room inside

So as we continue to lift up the Lord
In every part of our lives
It’s then our homes will reflect the faith
And hope we have in Christ

By: M.S.Lowndes