"the gospel in her home" (practical ways to honor God in our homes)

one of my deepest desires is to make my home a place that the presence of the Lord is loved and felt. a dwelling place. a little tabernacle made up of His people (myself, my husband, and our housemate - and by God's grace, eventually my children) where everyone can encounter Jesus.

sometimes the most lofty of dreams are achieved in the most practical of ways. okay, almost always achieved in this way. it's just making choices, daily choices, to honor the Lord and welcome Him.

here is a list of some of the easiest and most practical ways i've learned to honor God in my home. i'm not perfect at it. i don't do all these things, every single day - but i try to do some of them every day. it's the little movements of our heart that still make deep impact.

- turning off the TV. it makes room for so many wonderful things.
- turn on worship music. filling my home with this keeps my heart aware, and i honestly believe changes the atmosphere for my children too.
- taking snack times (we have 2 set snack times at 10:30 and 2:30) and praying for something specific. we pray for our family at the first snack time, and our life group/church in the second snack time.
- praying before your major meals. finding something unique to add to each prayer. "thank you for that baseball game last night. etc."
- reading from our "Jesus Storybook Bible" every night, and adding biblical principles into story time. After reading I tell Amos a story - and it's a great time to teach him lessons or about the character of Jesus.
- teaching Amos to sit and wait on the Lord. reminding him that God speaks, and Amos can hear him. also God can show him things in his minds eye.
- family devotionals once a week. we have started using the little take home sheet from Amos' church class. it's super simple, and doesn't need to be made complicated - especially with younger ones. explain something about God's character and relate it to a story in the Bible or something God says in His word. pray from it. "thank you God for giving your children power to heal the sick! help me to pray for healing for my friends!" and then if you are musical, bang on your instrument and sing to Jesus - and if you aren't, put on a worship song (Will Matthews stuff is great for family time) and dance around your living room.
- apologize for your sin, and acknowledge it to your children as sin. ask them for forgiveness and let them know God, through Christ, has extended us forgiveness.
- before we go to sleep, we list things we are thankful for. it's been the make up of Amos' first sincere prayers. "thank you for my mommy, thank you for my daddy, thank you for Lucia, thank you for that ice cream cone, thank you for my friend Preston..." Amos' little additions are the sweetest things, showing me the true highlights of his day.
- have a mission statement for your home that is visible. i haven't rewrote or hung one up in our new house, and am just now realizing it. in our apartment i had things we were believing God for that month listed, our seasonal prophetic Word from the Lord for our family, our family mission statement (super simple, one sentence) and i like to have up the meanings/verses connected to Amos, and now Lucia's, names.
- when i read the Word during the day, read it out loud if Amos' asks me too - or encourage him to sit with me and read His bible. same with journaling - giving him his own art form (painting, drawing, etc.)

in what ways have you found it easy to let the gospel saturate your home? i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear. i am always open to adding/changing how our family does things... if it means we dwell on His goodness that much longer.

that they may grow up in a home that the Lord and His Word are honored and enjoyed!

check out the posts over at After His Smile HERE and Mike + Brit HERE.

we would love to hear your stories on how the Lord is revealing His gospel in your home. either leave a link below to your personal post, or share a photograph on instagram with a few sentences how the Lord has been teaching them about the gospel in your home. make sure to use the hashtag #thegospelinherhome