What Is Home Building?

When our house fell down - YES OUR HOUSE FELL DOWN! - I started a blog called Home Building.  Building the house was a big part of our lives at the time and I wanted to bring others on the journey.  But really even bigger than the house that was being built, was the process of me learning to be an intentional mom who was building a home for her family.  

Around that time, I was resisting domestication - a girl raised up in the 80's surrounded by strong women who were bound and determined to inspire big dreams.  The women in my family knew that their girls had something to offer the world, and they were proud of the voice that women were finding.  

My family is amazing and I love the legacy of passionate pursuit they inspired in us.  But between that and the influence of the rest of the world, I was quite sure that I was supposed to be doing EVERYTHING and that I was FAILING miserably.  When I finally decided staying-at-home for my kiddos during this season of life made more sense than torturing all of us, the results were part relief and part shame.  

Home Building (the blog) became a parallel process whereby I would find a way to accept this new "career," not lose my mind, and maybe even find community in the process. All those things happened and now I truly know the meaning of Home Building. Am I finished? No way. Have I made progress? Oh yes. [And btw, Progress, not Perfection, is the name of the game around here. Or at least I strive for it to be.] 

Home building is something that most of us want to do. We want to build a home with our spouse and/or kids or extended family.  A home that exudes comfort and safety and love. I'm not talking about fabulous plush pillows and the perfect paint color. I'm talking about forgiveness and listening and not being as selfish as I'm prone to be. (Yes, this is mostly about me and you're along for the ride.) 

Actually, as it turns out, it's mostly about God. Come to find out, my job as a home builder - a.k.a wife, mom, family member - is really all about Him and what He is doing in me, and how He can make miracles happen. Like when my 7 year old refuses to do her homework for over 2 hours and I DON'T strangle anyone. (I know. It was an all-around delight.) You KNOW it's a miracle that the __of you can live in this house in relative peace, so don't pretend like it's not.  

Home Building means building up your

• spouse
• kids
• intimacy with Christ
• home to be one of safety and security for those who live there
• kids' faith foundation
• wisdom
• confidence
• peers

I'm not here to give you a list of things to do.  Turns out these are things most of us already have on our lists, and they can be done while we are already interacting with these people.  I want Home Building to be a place where we can find encouragement and perspective as we try, fail, and try again.  

You'll find lots of grace and scripture here.  You'll find authenticity.  You'll find out that God uses imperfect women to build homes that nurture faith and love and forgiveness.  Thanks for joining us.  Tell your friends and lets encourage each other to build our homes on forgiveness and love, wisdom and understanding. 

"By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established." 

Proverbs 24:3