Sunday, June 14, 2009

Bible Alphabet Letters V & W

Todays letters are V or Variety and W for Welcome. It has been awhile since I last posted to this alphabet and the lessons we have been learning, I guess, time just ran away with me and now that surgery is just 8 days away, I want to complete these lessons.

There is no question, God is the Master of variety. Take a look all around you and in your own neighborhoods you can see His hand at work. From the variety of greens in our lawns, trees & flowers, to flowers, people, our eye colors, our skin color, our hair color and lets not forget the variety of people that pass our way: homeless, friends, store clerks, teachers, doctors, ministers, children, judges, actors, we as a people as the human race are about as various as they come.

Each of us has our own unique way to make our own choices for variety. My husband likes strong black coffee, I love vanilla flavored coffee's, he likes black or blue ink, I prefer purple, oranges or anything unique. He would love the furniture to stay in one place all the time and well, you guessed it, I like to mix it up a bit.

Variety is as they say, the spice of life. My husband hands down loves me as I am and tells me that everyday in his hugs, his kisses, his wonderful sense of humor, but also at how he wipes the lipstick off his mouth in the mornings when I kiss him good-bye, he always tells me, 'don't have to wear that stuff for me, I love you without it.' Because of him, I have a tendency to buy brightly colored clothes more now than I used to.

If you want to know how life would be without variety, I highly recommend you read the book, 'The Giver,' by Lois Lowry. Everyone in that book does the same thing everyday at the same time and there is no color, everyone and everything is colorless.

Next, is the wonderful letter W for Welcome. 'Welcome others to your home with warmth and expectation.' (Hebrews 11:31). Notice it doesn't say welcome them to a completely clean home that you killed yourself cleaning for their arrival?

I am completely devoid of decorating talent. I have said it over and over again and it is true. I cannot decorate a cardboard box let alone try to make my home look pleasing and welcoming when someone comes in, so I overcompensate for this ungifting, by keeping my home clean!

Don't believe me? Let me show you some examples. I love the colors of the outside of my home and most of the inside colors, but here is how my husband and I differ:


I love this light, it is a pendant light that hangs from the middle of our front porch. My idea was just leave the old single bulb light hanging. Hubbies idea was this.

It doesn't stop here people, it goes on and I am so grateful it does because he has a knack for letting me know when something doesn't look just right.

Our front screen door? It was here when we arrived and we have rescreened it and kept it because it bangs loudly when shut & we both liked that idea remembering back to our childhood. As you look, you can see the purple of our home and the blue trim, but I would have painted the door white and left it that way.

Once again, you can see how he made it just more special and welcoming and all of our neighbors have told him how nice it looks. Whatever he does, he not only does right, he thinks about it and the possibilities it has to be improved. When you live in an area of southwestern Washington as we do that has many gray days, you DO NOT want your home painted gray, brown or any other dull color, you want it to say: 'Hello, Welcome, Glad You Stopped By.'

And at the end of the day, when I am exhausted from work or ready to relax, there is nothing more calming than walking into the master bedroom, closing the door and looking around at the walls.

Not so much as what is on them, but the colors of the walls that my husband once again chose as a color he felt would be and was right in the fact that it was relaxing.

I picked out the shades, drapes the bedcoverings, but they were easy and they all come together to make a room that is a welcome sanctuary at the end of the day or in the middle of the day when I am feeling weary.

It welcomes me in, envelopes me with peace and warmth.

In the end, when we come home at the end of the day, our children or grandchildren come home after school, over for visits, friends and family come to visit, isn't this the message we want to say...

Welcome, come on in ya'll and relax!

When we go back to biblical times, to the times when people were disobient to God, think of how welcomed the spies felt when by faith, Rahab the harlet took them into her home and hid them from danger and then told them when it was safe to leave. We should all strive to make our homes as welcome as possible.

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