Shaping Your Home

Karen

My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God.

—Psalm 62:7 CSB

They piled high on the living room coffee table: colorfully wrapped boxes with curly, coordinating bows and snappy gift bags with crisp tissue paper peeking out of their tops in anticipation. They accented the festivities as nearly three dozen friends eagerly gathered for an open house for my friend Thida.

A Cambodian native, Thida met my friend Keith when he was studying abroad in her country. Now they were married and living in the United States, and our circle of friends threw her an old-fashioned housewarming party.

What domestic treasures she opened that night! Fluffy new towels, spice-scented candles, picture frames, and pots. Ever a soft-spoken and grateful person, she was visually humbled and verbally thankful with each package she unwrapped. Every so often she would look at the crowd and utter the same phrase: “Oh . . . I want to thank you so much for helping me to shape our home.”

We knew what Thida meant. She meant to furnish her home, to decorate and outfit it with needed and useful items. But somehow when trying to get her sentiments across by speaking in English (her second language), the phrase she continually chose was “shape our home.”

As I heard sweet Thida utter these words many times that night, it struck a chord within me. In essence, this group of siblings, aunts, cousins, and grandparents by marriage, along with an abundance of new friends, were helping to do exactly that!

Thida began a relationship with Jesus because of the example of an aunt who taught her what it means to follow Him. Rather than choosing the false god that many of her ancestors followed, she chose the true God of the Bible. Now she and her husband desire to walk with God, and we, as her circle of support in her new country of residence, will try our best to encourage her in her endeavors. Yes, you could say in essence that we all have made a covenant to help Thida do exactly what she said—shape her home.

Do you know another woman who has made a decision for Christ? One who left her former ways to walk in the ways of the Lord? If so, there are eyes upon you, watching, soaking in, and learning. What will she see? Will you help her shape her heart’s home with God’s truths while building on the foundations of Christ?

Home shaping is significant business. May we all be mirrors that reflect Christ to those who are watching, soaking in, learning, and yes, perhaps even shaping.

Dear Lord, may I be ever mindful there are others looking to me for an example of how to shape our lives according to Your ways. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Think of someone you know who has recently begun to be interested in learning about what it means to walk with Jesus. What can you do to help her shape her faith and respond to the truth of the gospel?