“Where there is love there is no fear
“Make your home in me” – Ben Walther
So make your home and residence here
I′m so alive when you are near
So make your home in me”
Make your home in me.
How can I prepare space in my heart for the full joy of this Advent season?
What does it mean to be so alive? Have I experienced this full joy, looking forward with wonder and awe at the birth of the Christ Child?
Advent is a time for us to reflect on creating a home within our heart for the Christ Child.
“O come, o come Emmanuel.”
These words drape our mantle every Advent as we prepare our hearts.
But do we really mean that to be an invitation?
As we anticipate any visitor, we prepare ourselves for their visit. Our excitement grows as we count down the days or weeks until they arrive. We anticipate great conversations and delicious feasts. We delight in this season of giving and rejoice in joy.
My family loves the time leading up to Christmas. We love the wonder and joy of the lights. We love celebrating all the beautiful saints and holidays during this season. Our home begins to fill with red and green Christmas totes from the basement, and our excitement for Christmas Day grows.
The children begin to share stories of their favorite Christmas gifts, and they open up totes to find their favorite ornaments to adorn the house.
Christmas gift lists can be found scribbled on notepads or magnetized to the fridge.
Everyone prepares in their own way.
As we prepare our physical homes, we also look inward at our own hearts. Is there room for the perfect Christ Child?
What boxes and clutter do I need to sort through as I prepare for Him? Are there inner rooms in my heart where He wants to be invited into this year? Can I give Him the full tour of my heart? What is holding me back?
Make your home in me.
This past weekend, I came home from running some errands and noticed a pile of lumber in the yard. Until this moment, it had been years since my husband had built anything. He had been at Lowe’s just grabbing new Christmas lights for the house.
“What is this?” I asked, pointing to the pile of wood.
“I thought I would make a stable.” He said. “I found these statues of the Holy Family, and then this whole plan just came to me.”
Make your home in me.
He came back from Lowe’s with some lumber and a game plan.
I do not think that it’s a coincidence that, in the year of St Joseph, God would put it on my husband’s heart to build a stable in our yard.
God was inviting him to witness to our neighbors, and to all who pass our home, that our family is making His home in us.
Tammi mccarthy
God was inviting him to witness to our neighbors, and to all who pass our home, that our family is making His home in us.
I think this is just the beginning of what God will be doing in his own heart.
He built our home a stable.
With every nail that went in, God’s plan took form.
In the second week of Advent, my husband showed my children that sometimes it’s hard work to create a place for the Christ Child, but we have to do the work.
We roll up our sleeves, and we begin.
In the quiet of a cold, dark night, my husband was outside building that stable.
Just like every nail that he struck to build that stable, we too need to pick up our spiritual nails to create a stable in our hearts.
What lumber and other tools do we need? Maybe it’s Scripture, so we pick up our Bibles. Maybe it’s the fullness of the Sacraments, so we find the time in our schedules for daily Mass, or Confession. Maybe God wants his stable built with walls of forgiveness and mercy, so we call that family member that we have alienated or been hurt by.
We begin to build.
Nail by nail, we allow His grace and His love to build a home within us.
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