Home
Home. One of my favorite places to be. Recently I ran across an old column I wrote. With a few changes, I’d like to share it with you.
Home. What a wonderful word. Just mentioning it brings thoughts of warm apple pies, a cheery fire in the winter, or maybe a family game of croquet in the summer. It just feels good, doesn’t it? I have a friend who once said, “Home is where the mattress fits.” And I think we can just about all agree with that…there’s just no place like home.
Of course, we all know that there are places where people live together as families that don’t have the “homey” feeling. Where harsh words and abuse are the norm, rather than hugs and support. But what does our Bible tell us our homes are meant to be?
I would submit to you that the home is the first institution mentioned in the Bible. I think God did that on purpose, to let us know that the home is the most important institution in His creation. God didn’t create Adam and Eve and then give them the church, or the government, or the Ten Commandments. He instituted the home.
In Deuteronomy he said: “Teach them (God’s commands) diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house; and when you walk in the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Maybe that’s why the home is so important to God, because it is to be the very center of learning about Him. It is our job to teach knowledge of God personally, intimately, and continuously to our children and grandchildren.
It would please me greatly, when you purchase one of my Down Home on the Farm books, if you were to go to the Reading Comprehension link on my website. On it you will find questions that tie each book to the Bible.
I hope you are preparing for a wonderful summer as a family. And that home is the center.
Enjoy!
Lura (Katy) Houk
(Photography by Jacques Bopp, Unsplash)