Creating a God-Centered Home

This is a long and rambling one, so feel free to skip it. I'll post one later with pictures and stuff.

I read this post over at The Domesticated Diva and it got me thinking of the ways that I try to make my home centered around God. Honestly, I never go to the ministers' wives conferences because 1. I'm not really much of a joiner. I really have to psych myself up to do those things. But I'm working on it! 2. They're always scheduled when I have photo shoots or weddings. However, our church is organizing one shortly after Tony is born and since I'm taking a break from work for a bit, I'll be able to go. Audrey will stay with Honey and Tony and I will get to go. A baby has never been before, but the other ministers' wives assure me that they would love for him to go too.

Anyway...

The post got me thinking of other ways, aside from making a home a place of refuge, that I can create a God-centered home. I completely agree that a home should be a place of refuge, especially with the state the world is in. I think that while decorating and general home keeping has a lot to do with creating the look of a God-centered home that it extends much more than that. At least for me personally - these are all my own thoughts and are in no way intended to bash someone that might not feel or do the same; only my thoughts and extensions upon the subject.

Anyone can walk in and see our Scripture clock, our collection of theological books and Bible studies that seem to accumulate and multiply in every room - I swear they're like bunnies (but that's a good thing) and our crosses throughout the house. But do I really want to stop there? Is that all that I can do to make my house God centered? Is that what my children will remember when they're grown?

Then I started thinking of the other things that my husband and I do and try to get Audrey (and soon Tony) into on a daily basis. My husband and I get up well before the crack of dawn to pray and read His Word and about His works. This helps us get in the right mindset for the day (especially if we have a bad day). Another way to look at it would be kind of like tithing our time. When we tithe, we give our first fruits. When we get up and start the day off praying and reading, we're giving him the very first of our day. At least that's how we look at it.

We pray at every meal and Audrey always ends our prayer with a loud "AMEN!" Throughout the day, I'll sing songs, hymns, etc. to Audrey. We don't listen to what's on the radio (unless it's the classic rock or zydeco station when we can't handle the Veggie Tales CD any more) so I can't really sing anything else. There's a great CD called Songs for Saplings that puts Scripture to song for kids - we love it. Throughout the day, I'll remind Audrey how Jesus, Daddy and Mommy love her.

When my husband comes home from work, we do a quick Bible study with our popsicle sticks. We regularly anoint our door frames and entry ways and pray over them (much like the Israelites before the exodus) and those who enter here. And I always make sure to end my day in prayer before resting.

Then we're sure to go to all of our services and prayer meetings at church. Although Audrey doesn't quite grasp the magnitude of God, she does participate in prayer and worship. And, I must admit, it makes my heart sing. When every time we get in the car she asks if we're going to church and then starts shouting "Halalala (hallelujah)! Holy! Amen! God is Good!" in the back seat, I praise God for His grace and love towards us.

And I think (or at least I hope) it has an impact. Audrey already has the basis for a good relationship with Him. This is something I was never able to have when growing up, so I am so thankful that she has the opportunity to know Him from the get go. But here's where I think I have proof of how it is positively impacting her:

We were at the doctor's office for Tony's check up and were in the waiting room. Audrey was being an angel and not acting up at all (hooray for that!). A woman walked in with a book, some romance novel like Nick Sparks but I don't remember what, and Audrey said "Mommy! It's a Bible!" I told her that it wasn't a Bible, but another book. She replied "Daddy has a Bible!" I told her that, yes, Daddy does have a Bible. Then she said "I have Bob!" Bob is her Bob the Tomato (from Veggie Tales) back pack that has books like "Bible Animals" and "Daniel" to keep her occupied when a service gets long. I told her that she does have Bob and she told me that she brings him to church. I told her that we do bring both the Bible and Bob to church when we go.
She then started clapping and saying "Pray! Praise! Sing! Wo(r)ship!" I told her that we do do those things when in church.

This conversation repeated itself every time she looked at the woman reading her book. And I kept telling her that she was right. She then talked about how much she loved church. This really did warm my heart. That we were giving her all of these positive associations with God, His Word, his Church. And that maybe she was a little light to someone in that waiting room who was having a bad day or losing faith. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a child of God who knows and loves God. If only we could all be as little children. It reminded me that creating a God-centered home means living a God-centered life.

And our little ones pick up on this. I may be mistaken, but I believe that it's not only how I keep my house but the life I live in it that impacts my children. If Audrey never saw us pray or sing or read His Word at home, then she wouldn't really get it when we did it else where. If she never saw us have a Bible study or talk about Jesus and His love, the name wouldn't mean anything to her. But she knows the name of Jesus. And that is more than good enough for me.

So, if you've made it this far, what do you do to make your home God-centered? Is there anything special that you do to teach your kids the love of Christ? Do you have any ideas that I could do better? I'm always looking for new ways to glorify God and impart His love to my family and friends.