Sunday, May 22, 2005

Home Worship

Growing up, I learned that worshiping God was a Sunday morning activity. Of course you loved God all the time and prayed regularly, but worship was strictly reserved for Sunday mornings in a church building. Anything less seemed disrespectful to the greatness and holiness of God! How could anyone even consider worship as a home activity? I was always suspect of religious services such as Catholic mass that were shown on television. It just did not seem right to invite Our Mighty Savior into our living room!

God has worked on me in the past few years to reveal to me the importance or worshiping him all the time, everywhere, as much as possible. No matter if I am cleaning toilets in a grubby t-shirt and jeans or raising my hands high in a glorious Sunday morning service at church, worship is what God wants most from me and all believers. I came to understand that where I am and what else may be occupying me do not matter. It is just worship that truly pleases the heart of God. And because it pleases him, it pleases me as I strive to be his good and faithful servant.

How does this daily, at-home worship translate in our everyday, busy family life? First, my husband and I together started with a goal. We knew that we wanted to fill our home with reverence and worship. The simple act of proclaiming our plan out loud and declaring it to the Lord and to ourselves was the best thing that we could have done. Because we know the tone we desire, it is relatively easy for us to eliminate anything in our home environment that interferes or just does not fit. Likewise, we can easily identify what we do want as we pursue God's face everyday as a family.

Next, we realized that we wanted all of our media in our home to reflect the fact that we are Christians who love the Lord. We wanted this as much for Chase's sake as for ours. We found ourselves uncomfortable with Christians who wear offensive t-shirts or watch filth on TV or at the movies. We wanted to strive to make all facets of our family life mesh with our beliefs in God and his Word.

We listed to uplifting, inspiring music throughout most of the day, we have inspirational prints and posters, we watch educational and fun Bible videos together as a family. Of course, we each have other areas of interest we pursue but all fall within our family guidelines for media usage. Sam likes talk radio, I like oldies from the 40's and 50's and Chase likes Bob the Builder and other children's videos.

Importantly, I have my own private worship time. Either late at night or early in the morning, I spend time praising God either through prayer, writing, music, movement or some combination thereof.

I recently read the book "Throne Room" by CeCe Winans, graciously given to me a homeschool mom friend, and that book has blessed me and my worship efforts very much! A little testimony about the book: I had been wanting this book for some time but just could not afford it. I even went to see CeCe at a local bookstore and considered getting the book for her to sign and it was not available. Imagine my surprise when my friend calls and says she would like to come by and drop off the book for me because she has an extra one! And just in time for Mother's Day! God is good, all the time and he is worthy to be worshiped.

Home worship is the most important part of our family's home-centered lifestyle.

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