“You’re right,” I sighed. “I haven’t made an effort. I commit to you now to make a genuine effort, and that I will pray daily for the Lord to help me change. That’s all I can do.”​

Conflict.

It is present in every healthy relationship.

Let me repeat that. Conflict is present in every healthy relationship.

If there isn’t some conflict, then someone’s not being honest. That’s when bitterness and resentment build.
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While conflict is normal and healthy, it is working through and reconciling those conflicts that will keep the relationship healthy.

After over three years of looking for a house, the Lord provided the answer to our prayers. We had moved in only two months earlier. 
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I expected much of myself and I was floundering.

Our kids ran in as they normally do, cheering and excited. It was our then 3-year-old who stopped dead in the silence. “Where are Poppy and Nanny?!” she cried, suddenly quiet, wide-eyed.

The space of a house. The set up. Arrangement. Lighting. Items. They matter in making a space feel like a home. They do matter. Yet it is the spiritual and emotional presence in that space that make it home.
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When coming home to my parent’s house, they greet us with excitement, welcome, love, orderliness, things have been prepared and thought about on our behalf.

The spiritual and emotional presence they provide speak volumes of words unuttered…