Guest Blog: Enviroment of Peace

Courtney with Women Living Well is starting a "Making your Home a Haven" Fall Challenge. This is the first week and it was very convicting. Due to some health reasons, I have been quite hard to live with. We need peace in our family and I know I starts with me. Thank you Courtney for this challenge...

 

Edith Shaeffer says:

“We are an environment, each one of us.

We are an environment for the other people with whom we live, the people with whom we work, the people with whom we communicate…our conversations, attitudes, behavior, response or lack of response, hardness or compassion, our love or selfishness, joy or dullness, concern for others or self pity – all these things make a difference to the people who have to live in our environment.

 

Enthusiasm and excitement infect other people: expectancy that God can intervene and do something in this moment of history and doing something practical to show that expectancy in prayer, affects the attitudes of other people.”

 

Have you ever considered that you are an environment?

 

What type of environment are you?

 

Do you lay in bed, with clothes in a heap on your floor, sighing and moaning about all the work that has to be done in your day or are you cheery in the morning, welcoming your children to the breakfast table, praying with them as they enter their day, tidying up morning dishes without complaint…

 

Life is certainly not all butterflies and roses…but because we are Christians – we are to reflect Christ in our environment.  And the only way we can reflect Christ and his peace is by going to him and asking for it.

 

Seeking it.

 

Pursuing it.

 

It won’t happen by accident.

Here is this week’s challenge:

Go buy an extra large candle and light it everyday in your home. I will be starting mine in the morning but if you work – you can start yours at dinner time and let it burn until you go to bed. Do what makes sense for your family. I will be placing mine in the kitchen – the main hub of my home.

Each time the candle catches your eye, say a prayer for peace in your home.

Philippians 4: 6,7 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
 

Prayer brings peace.

I love vaccuum cleaner lines on freshly vaccuumed carpet.  I love the sound of the dishwasher running at the end of the day – signaling the kitchen is clean and closed.  I love warm towels fresh out of the dryer.  I love the way the house is sparkling clean ALL at once right before guests arrive.  And I love a flickering candle on my kitchen counter.

 

I simply enjoy these gifts in life.

 

But…

They are momentary.

Soon the kids will come running into the room and wrestle around and the vaccuum cleaner lines will be gone. The dishwasher will stop running and need emptied – that’s not so fun! The towels – they’ll be cold and wet soon. And most likely, left laying on the floor somewhere. After the guests leave, the house will need cleaned all over again.

 

It’s the cycle of life.

 

But my candle.

 

My candle just keeps on burning.  Morning, noon and night it serves me.  It serves me with a flickering warm light, a pleasant scent, and a reminder to pray for peace in my home.

 

I remember long ago when I first started daily lighting my kitchen candle.  The kids came down for breakfast and asked -

 

“Who’s coming over today mommy?“

 

“No one“, I answered.

 

“Then why is there a candle lit in the kitchen?” they asked.

 

“For us!” 

 

I light the candle for us - to bless my own family.

Let’s make our homes feel more like a warm hug than a cold shoulder for all those who find refuge under our roof.

Light a candle and begin praying over your home every time the glimmer of the candle catches your eye.  Pray for peace.  Peace with each other and peace within your soul.

Thank you all so much for your accountability. I appreciate you joining me on this journey!  To see the list of upcoming challenges and giveaways -> click here.

 

**Chime In: Have you begun to light your candle?  Did your family ask “what’s up with the candle?” What scent is your candle?  And have you found a deal on candles?  Share it!

Walk with the King,