What Makes a House a Home?

On winter mornings and evenings (if you can say that Southern California has a winter) you’ll often find me in my recliner. A fire crackles to my right, and to my left, pressed up against my leg, is Lex, our faithful companion dog. Various activities go on in this chair. Praying, reading, journaling, watching shows on my iPad, scrolling through Instagram, laughing with Alan about some random post.

But this morning, I lift my eyes from the book I’m reading and I stare at my living room. It has undergone many permutations of furniture and layout over the 21 years we have lived here. You’ve heard me complain before about this house. Built in the 1970s, its rental status calls out clearly from the old aluminum windows to the original formica kitchen countertop.

But I’m not thinking about my complaints this morning. No. I’m thinking about the ways in which this is not just a house. It’s a home. And that’s what really matters.

How many memories are in this one, small rectangle of a living room? 

• Game nights with piles of boys playing video games and then crashing on any flat surface. 
• Blankets thrown over every perfectly-positioned dining chair, turning the living room into a large fort. 
• Family nights enjoyed by candlelight, with a toddler standing on his head on the couch while we teach the boys the Lord’s Prayer. 
• Stacked boxes of Little Caesar’s Pizza for dinner and plates toppling over with stacks of pancakes for breakfast (how else would you feed the masses on game night?). 
• Christmas Eve nights where we’ve lugged down mattresses to sleep on the floor in front of the tree together as a family. (How Santa put the gifts under the tree without waking the boys, we’ll never know).

These memories make me love this home. It’s not the structure of the house that makes it a home. It’s us! The people. The family. We made this a home. 

Over the last four years, Alan and I have been building the house of Unhurried Living. When you start something new, it is really hard work and much of it feels like an uphill climb. But at this point in our organization’s journey, the building is turning to sustaining and growing. And I prefer to think of Unhurried Living as a home.

A home for us to express all of the grace God has lavished on us over the course of our lives. A home for people who actually do want to learn to live and lead from an unhurried center, overflowing into their relationships and work. A home for creating content that trains and encourages others. 

This week, we are celebrating the 100th episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast. And in it we share what makes Unhurried Living a home. The values of Rest Deeper, Live Fuller and Lead Better and our newly unveiled dynamics of Intentional Soul Care, Strategic Personal Influence, and Rooted God-Given Identity. Certainly, these are all important elements of this home.

But you know what truly makes Unhurried Living a home? YOU! You are the reason we do what we do. And you are the reason this is a home. Your life matters. And we love being a part of encouraging you along in your process. 

Who you are informs how you do what you do. You can learn to lead from a place of confident rest in the love of God. Our mission here at Unhurried Living is to provide you with the tools and guidance you need to lead from a full soul. 

So, thank you for making Unhurried Living more than a house full of ideas. Unhurried Living is a home, full of people who are growing, changing and overflowing. 

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash