We the people can live anywhere. Some love to live out in the country in a more rural setting where farm animals are your noisy neighbors. Others are city people and thrive on the hustle and bustle. We live in big houses, tiny houses, tree houses, RVs, houseboats, apartments, our cars and some even on the streets. For most, it depends on our financial situation or where we were raised, but  it also comes down to our preferences and choices at the time.

What remains the same is the heart of the home does not depend on where you are living, but rather who you are with.

It is our family, the people that we spend most of the day with, morning and night. The individuals that know us the best, good or bad, happy or sad. They are the ones that know just what buttons of ours to push, and we know theirs (just don’t push them too often!). To have our loved ones in the place we call home gives us some stability. We can count on them to tease us, make us angry, and push those buttons. Hopefully we can also count on them to watch our back. At the end of the day, it is because of them that we look forward to getting home after a hard day at work or school. Why? Because there is this thing called LOVE.

Regardless of how angry they make us, or whether they do their part of the chores or not, or if there’s been an argument and things said that hurt each other, we still love each other. That is because our hearts have been melded together as family. Love is a bond that is a lot like glue; it holds us together.

If you are currently struggling in a family relationship, look closely at your own heart. Are you considering their viewpoint? Will your opinion really matter ten years from now? Can there be compromise? Are you allowing your pride to interfere? To love someone else takes swallowing your own pride and putting them first. It is not about you. It is about loving others as Jesus loves us. To do this will create a harmony in your home, which in turn will add more glue to your most important relationships. You need to “stick” together!

The heartbeat of the home is how we love each other. Is your “heart” healthy? Strive to love your family as Jesus loves you. The lifeblood of your home will flow freely and it will be a healthy, happy place, no matter where it is.

I Corinthians 13: 1-8a. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.”

Food for thought: If LOVE is standing at your front door, will you turn him away because of fighting within the home, or will you invite him in to help heal those relationships?

Fun facts: The most expensive home in the US is worth $350 million dollars. It is in Bel-Air, California (of course it is!). It dates back to 1933. This 25,000 sf mansion named “Chartwell” is on 10 acres, has manicured gardens, a 75-foot pool, and covered parking for 40 cars. It has a wine cellar, and a ballroom. It was featured as the Clampett’s house on the Beverly Hillbillies.

Photo by: Kari Wiseman – Heart Rock in a Tree