I’m a sucker for happy reality shows like Under Cover Boss, Shark Tank, or other shows that change people’s live. I just got done watching Fixer Upper where Chip and JoJo give another deserving couple their dream home with all these beautiful details that make this home so lovely and welcoming. I love this show. I love shows that make people happy in the end. There’s a good chance I’m bawling at the end of these shows.
Now, please don’t get me wrong. Chip and Joanna Gaines are doing great things for the Lord. They are a wonderful Christian couple and it’s so refreshing to watch a loving husband and wife encourage and support each other on TV. I will continue to watch this show, and I encourage everyone else to watch as well.
During our ladies Wednesday morning Bible study, our Pastor’s wife, Carrie, (Hi, Carrie!) mentioned to be careful not to make earth heaven for yourself or your children. I can’t remember what the Bible study was on, but this is the little nugget I took away from it the most and it has stuck with me since.
You see, my heart is aching (literally) aching to have my own home someday. I’m so done with paying rent and moving every two years. No, we are not military. We just live in a crazy expensive area and still have undergrad and grad student loans (oh, Sallie Mae, we are not friends.) I want roots. I want my children to know when they come home, they are home. It’s our home. We own it. We can do work on it if we want to or not. I want a driveway and a yard. I want my kids to play in the backyard after naps and for us not to have to go to a park just for them to run around. I want a home that’s big enough to have my daughter’s birthday party in or have an extra room so someone can live here while they get their feet on the ground. I grew up in the same house since I was born. I wanted the same for my own children. It’s been a tough thing for me lately not being able to give that to them. I want a home so badly that I’m starting to view a home greater than I view Heaven. Yikes.
So, you can imagine when I’m watching Fixer Upper that my heart just aches for a home like what they are building for their clients. It’s hard to not look around our rented Townhouse with old windows, an annoying kitchen sink and cabinets that are falling apart (literally, Brian took scotch tape to a cabinet door tonight), a screen door that’s about to pop out any day, and a yard that needs A LOT of work. It’s hard for my heart to be happy in our situation, so I think of what Carrie mentioned…that we shouldn’t make earth our heaven. It’s good to have a home and nice things. There is nothing wrong it. God has blessed you in that way and I celebrate and am joyful with you.
Right now, as I yearn for a home, my heart would make it heaven. That’s not right. My heart should be yearning for the real Heaven. The Heaven where Jesus is. The Heaven where he waits to welcome me. The Heaven where I won’t have to move every two years. The Heaven where sin and discontentment does not exist.
I encourage those of you that maybe struggling with discontentment in an area of your life whether it’s the same as mine about owning a beautiful home, or to be healthy, or to have a new job. Please don’t make these things your heaven. These are great gifts, but they will not last. Don’t think that when this “thing” will be better, then my life will be happy and complete. Be thinking Heavenward. Be thinking about our future gain with Christ and how complete and final that will be.
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
