How to Have Heaven in Your Home

How to have heaven in our home here while preparing for heavenly home.

Thelma Jean Voss is wife of the president of the Nebraska Conference


LAST  YEAR  our  daughter  and  son- in-law  were  student  missionaries  in Korea.  We  were  proud that they went. We missed them for a whole year, especially  on  holidays;  but  we  knew  they would  soon  come  home.  How  sad  it would be to miss them eternally! I hope we  have  taught  them  how  to  have heaven  in  their home  here  and to  prepare for their heavenly home.

What  does  it  take  to  have  a  happy Christian home?

First,  Christ  must  be  in  our  homes. He  must  be the  center of  our activities and interests.

Second, we must have  love.

And,  third,  we  must  work  at having happy homes. We can't just hope to have them.  It takes work.

In the  book  Happiness  Wall to  Wall, George  Vandeman  informs  us:  "The break-up  of  a marriage doesn't happen all  at once.  It begins with the first neglect  of  the  little  attentions  that  make happiness for a companion. It begins the day you are too tired to be kind, too busy to  be  thoughtful,  or  too  occupied  with your  own  problems  to  be  interested  in those of your mate." —Page 32.

Having  a  Christian  home  means  being a Christian in the home.

Someone has said that "any man who is a real Christian in the eyes of his family  is a real Christian." What we are at home is what we  really are!

The  book  Happiness Homemade suggests something else that will make our homes  brighter,  happier  places  to  be: "We  need  more  sunshiny  parents  and more sunshiny Christians. .  .  .  Too often the  kindly,  encouraging  word,  the cheery  smile,  are  withheld  from  our children  and  from  the  repressed  and discouraged." —Page  19

Are  you  a  sunshiny parent  or  Christian?

Here are some suggestions for making a sunny home!

1.  Be  happy that you  are  a woman. A woman has a tremendous power of influence in the home  and in the world.  I think God had a beautiful plan in mind when He created the woman. I think He was partial to us. He really gave us the best  role  in  life.  He  created  us  to  be happy,  to  be  gentle,  to  love  and  care. Each day, thank God that He made you a woman.

2.  Accept God's plan for your life as a woman. God also had a divine plan, a blueprint,  for  the  family.  He  planned for woman to be man's helper, or assistant.  Our roles  are equal in importance, but not in responsibility. Woman's special assignment was to be in the home. This  doesn't  mean  that  a  woman  is  a servant. It means that she is the queen.

3.  Be  thankful  if  you  have  a  husband. Be a good wife and a good lover  don't be his mother.

4.  Be  grateful  if  you  can  stay  at home.  Learn  the  art  of  homemaking. Learn to make good bread, to be  a good cook  and  prepare  nutritious  meals,  to be  a  good  housekeeper.  A  clean  house says,  "Welcome  home" to your husband and children.

Cultivate  hobbies  that  are  helpful. Learn to sew, to knit, or crochet.

Remember the  ideal  woman  in Proverbs 31 was a busy and industrious woman.

5.  Take  time  for  God.  If He is  the center of our homes, then we must give Him some time. Study. Pray.

6.  Take time for yourself. If you are rested, you will be more patient with the children and your husband. Remember, you are a queen! This doesn't mean that you  should take  a  four-hour nap every day.  But it does  mean  some  time  each day for yourself.

7.  Take  time  for  your  husband.  He needs someone to listen to him. Did you know  that  the  first  reason  men  leave their wives  for  other women is because they  find  someone  who  will  listen  to them someone who "understands"?

I know of a minister's home that was broken  because  the  minister  found  a 14-year-old girl who listened to him and made  him  feel  that  she  understood him.  How  could  a  14-year-old  girl  understand  a  grown  man?  She  couldn't. But she listened to him.

8.  Take  time  for your children.  Let each of them know how special he or she is to you.  Look  for their special talents and help them to develop them. Encourage them. Love them.

9.  Keep yourself attractive. Be feminine. Keep clean and well-groomed.

10.  Be  an  inspiration  to  your  husband  and  children.  We  never  inspire anyone  by  fussing,  nagging,  or  criticizing.

If  you  get  up  each  morning  grouchy or  complaining, your husband and children  will  be  grouchy.  But  if  you,  the wife  and mother, are happy, the family will be happy. Try singing when you get up each morning.

11.  Make yourself a necessity to your husband. Help him to realize how much he  needs  you not by pointing it out to him, but by supporting him in his ideals, praying  for  him,  comforting  him,  and needing  him.  Let him know how much you  admire  and  appreciate him.  Never allow  another  woman  to  outshine  you as your husband's wife. Be glad that you are his wife and he is your husband.

We've  listed  a  few  suggestions  designed to help you in making your home a heaven on earth. But remember, your total  commitment  and  your  dedication to God will give you the grace to be the queen  in the  home,  to  be  a  part of  the family of God.


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Thelma Jean Voss is wife of the president of the Nebraska Conference

February 1976

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