I finally got around to doing an Engineer print! Staples offers these oversized black & white prints in three different sizes for super cheap. This 24x36 was $3. I've been wanting to make large Scripture art like this for the longest time. And since Psalm 119:54 references a house, it seemed like a good one to start with.
"Your statutes have been my song in the house of my sojourning."
As a stay at home mom, it goes without saying that I spend a lot of time at home. This place is incredibly important to me. Not for the sake of the walls that give it shape, but for the life that it holds. It facilitates day-to-day life for my family and it's a joy to pour out my energy here. All of my energy. And I'm finding that the larger our family grows and the longer I run a house, the more organized and deliberate I have to be in all that I do. After all, things are growing. Over the last few years, our family has doubled in size {from two to four!} and our resources have increased as well. Throw in our recent relocation{s}, the birth of our newest family member, and a deployment, and I think it's safe to say that there's been a definite increase in responsibility!
I have so much yet to learn, but one thing I do know. For every ball that gets added to my stay-at-home-Army wife/mom juggling routine comes the necessity of an even tighter grip on the Word of God. Of a deeper understanding of my utter dependence on Christ and His Spirit within if I hope to get any of it right.
But that's what struck me about Psalm 119:54. It addresses my need for God's commands and it addresses my house! With all of the work and routine and sense of permanence that can come with my home when it's my job to tend it day in and day out, I need to remember the foundation that this house stands on: "{His} statutes..." If I'm not careful, it's incredibly easy to let my own initiatives take over. To get so busy living for myself that I forget that all of this is really about Him. To mistake that thing called the Bible for merely a book, forgetting that it is actually life-giving bread. That-unlikely as it may seem at 7am- it is more vital than my morning coffee.
And when I treat it as such- as my first priority of the day- it acts as the blessing it is promised to be. His commands truly do become the "song"that they are called. Just as a song can literally get stuck in my head, biblical living takes root when I'm diligent to stay in the Word and rely on it's guidance every single day.
And then- by nothing less than the grace of God, and with the lead of my wonderful, godly husband- that same song fills my house and is learned and loved by my children. And I hope it blesses every neighbor and friend that sets foot inside our doors.
And when I treat it as such- as my first priority of the day- it acts as the blessing it is promised to be. His commands truly do become the "song"that they are called. Just as a song can literally get stuck in my head, biblical living takes root when I'm diligent to stay in the Word and rely on it's guidance every single day.
And then- by nothing less than the grace of God, and with the lead of my wonderful, godly husband- that same song fills my house and is learned and loved by my children. And I hope it blesses every neighbor and friend that sets foot inside our doors.
And there's one more beautiful picture in this Psalm. This physical house where I pour out so much of my life is one of "sojourning". I need the constant reminder that I am indeed a sojourner, a pilgrim. This is my temporary house, not my eternal home. And though the people within it have been entrusted to my care, they belong to Him. So, all of the joy, challenge, fulfillment, and even the I'm-going-to-pull-my-hair-out moments that come with running my house must be tempered by the fact that it is only a house. And every moment I spend with and on my family must be tempered by the understanding that they are His and that I will be held accountable for how I treat them.
These are things of eternal weight.
And I need these reminders more than anybody, because I absolutely thrive on having a clean, organized, efficient, comfortable home. And I really, really like it when those within it stick to my program. But for the days- and there are many- when my home and my family is a picture of the exact opposite of "clean" or "programmed", I can't become a slumped pile of discouragement. Life is about glorifying God, yielding to His plan, and recognizing that He is the source of every good thing. That I can't do any of it right without His Spirit working within me. That only when I let go and am diligent to take His lead that His statutes can carry my life like chords carry a song. In my home, in my family, and in me.
These are things of eternal weight.
And I need these reminders more than anybody, because I absolutely thrive on having a clean, organized, efficient, comfortable home. And I really, really like it when those within it stick to my program. But for the days- and there are many- when my home and my family is a picture of the exact opposite of "clean" or "programmed", I can't become a slumped pile of discouragement. Life is about glorifying God, yielding to His plan, and recognizing that He is the source of every good thing. That I can't do any of it right without His Spirit working within me. That only when I let go and am diligent to take His lead that His statutes can carry my life like chords carry a song. In my home, in my family, and in me.
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