"My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest." - Isaiah 32:18

Friday, June 15, 2018

Peace at Home

I'd like to jot down a couple of thoughts on the topic of peace at home...


~ a rainy morning ~

I think about this a lot when I have to leave my home. 

Exposure to the real world can be jarring.

But home life doesn't have to be.

We can make it however we want it!

Isn't that great?!


~ Peonies in bloom ~


Because of this, I have found myself living out some simple habits that I think really contribute to my peace of mind and our peace at home.

One is - I have eliminated news from my life.

I never have the news on in my home.

"I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set no vile thing before my eyes."
- Psalm 101:2-3

It makes sense not to expose children to news, but have you ever thought about if it's healthy for you to be hammered over the head with news?

Think about it...

Are the news stations providing us a kindhearted service? OR... Are the news stations a business  whose job is to obtain and grow ratings with oftentimes an agenda besides!

I think we know it's the latter.

When I'm exposed to the news I find that afterward I feel scared and depressed.

And I don't want to be that kind of a mama!

Because I know that the news can steal my joy, I find that I'm a much more cheerful mother when I stay away from it. 

And a cheerful mother makes a pleasant and peaceful home!

One argument to this would be, But we need to be informed!

I do understand that.

But haven't you noticed that when something big comes up, people talk about it and you find out anyway?

I learned about the recent shooting in Texas from Micah who came home that night talking about it.

I didn't really need to see any alarming imagery about it on the news to know to say a prayer for the families - which is all I could do for them anyway even if I had seen it on the news.

I guess for me it boils down to this...

My job is to focus on the people right around me, especially those in my home, serving them in love and with a cheerful heart.

I can't do that well if I'm distracted and heavy-hearted because of the news.

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things."
- Philippians 4:8


~ our garden ~

The second thing is - I do not fight or argue with Micah.

Neither he nor I came from homes where fighting was commonplace, so it comes fairly easy to us.

But nevertheless, disagreements come up in any marriage.

The question is, how do you handle the disagreements when they come up?

"As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."
- Romans 12:18

When I was very young and newly married I would dig my heels in and insist upon my way!

With time I was able to see that I was only making myself miserable and there was no peace in our home.

I decided I didn't want our children in a home like that, so slowly with the Lord's help I began to change.

It is in my personality to get riled and ruffled easily, so it's something I've had to practice.

 But now if something comes up that bothers me or is important to me, I calmly bring it to Micah and we talk about it at night after the kids are in bed.

They never see us fight.

 I have learned to just hold my tongue, which our modern world would tell us is unhealthy. But by doing so I'm giving my children a peace-filled home with no sad memories of mom and dad fighting. 

So to me it is worth it!

A stable home for my children is more important to me than getting my way on a matter I will most likely forget about in a year or so anyhow!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
- Philippians 2:3


~ view from the front door ~


I wrote at the start of the post that we can make our home life however we want it.

Why not make it filled with peace?

We cannot control what we will encounter out in the world, but we can do a lot to make our homes a place of happiness and rest.

Friends, what do you do to cultivate peace at home?

We can learn from each other!

Tell me in the comments!


xo,


~ Courtney ~



2 comments:

  1. As you can see, I've not been keeping up on your blog for a while!! LIFE just keeps happening!! But as you have so easily pointed out, we can bring more PEACE in to our lives, by choosing it, in so many easy ways!! THANK YOU for the wonderful ideas and for choosing to share the love and peace HE wants for each and every one of us!!

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    1. Thank YOU for reading, and for all your lovely comments! I appreciate you taking the time to stop here and read what I write because I know how busy life can get! Thanks for the encouragement!💗

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