The big question these days, right? Get back out there and support the economy or stay home in an attempt to quell the rising numbers. The answer isn’t exactly clear. It all depends on whose advice you’re following.

For me, this has been the big question long before COVID hit the scene. I am unquestionably, unashamedly a homebody. I’m actually one of those introverts for whom the stay-home order felt more like a welcome reprieve than a prison sentence.  My home is the place where I feel most free to be myself, to create, to rest and rejuvenate and dream. Without a doubt I’m happiest immersed in a home project or in my backyard planting flowers or gathered around the table with my family. 

Home is both the place I don’t want to leave and the place I know I must leave if I’m going to live a full, abundant life.

We’ve all been given a calling from our Creator. The specifics look different for each of us but we are responsible for cultivating the earth, caring for those who can’t care for themselves, fighting the injustices, righting the wrongs wherever we have influence to do so. We’re called to go out there. It’s hard for God to love the world through us when we’re sitting home alone, engrossed in Netflix or Instagram or in one home improvement project after another. (Ugh… sheepishly guilty over here.)

I’ve wrestled with this my entire adult life. Drawn inward but called outward.

Matt lived with us for a time while he was in seminary (before he was my son-in-law) and he used to sit in our kitchen and chat about the things he had learned in class that day. I remember him sharing one time that his professor had pointed out that King David knew when to go out and when to come back in. He was a worshipping warrior, a man after God’s own heart, skilled at both going out into battle and coming back to the quiet place of intimate communion with the King of his heart. The realization struck me then and has stuck with me … I need to live this out better in my own life.

When to stay and when to leave? When to keep the focus small on my own home and family vs when to focus out there on the rest of the world? I’ve wrestled with this my entire adult life. Drawn inward but called outward.

Proverbs 31 showcases a glowing example of a woman skilled at doing both. Her household is well cared for and she’s always reaching out to help those in need. Known by her extravagant generosity to the poor and for the beauty and blessings in her own home. This is a woman who has discovered the balance between going out and coming in. And the world around her is blessed because of her. 

So how to strike that balance? Is there some sort of measuring stick that tells me when my home is vying for His place as the center of my heart’s affection? My creative outlets that start out as well-intentioned little projects can so easily consume me. One bleeds over into the next and a year goes by and I realize I spent most of it in my own little bubble.

At The Space We Share, we want to be about both. We’re all about carving out gathering spaces in and around our homes. We’re about sharing meals and worship around the fire-pit. We’re about gardens and beauty and vibrant color everywhere. And we are also very much about justice and truth and all that is good and pure and holy. We’re about giving voice to the voiceless and sharing what we have and setting captives free.

I pray my home is both a sending out place and a soft place to land. I want family and friends to feel their breath slow and their shoulders relax when they walk in the door. But I also want them to walk away feeling valued, heard and incited to go out and pursue their God-given dreams.

Still seeking that balance. Praying you find it too!

Jana