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Finding Sanctuary in the Family Home
by Meg Brown
Your home should be your sanctuary. It should be a place of rest and renewal; a source of safety and comfort; the seat of your creativity.
Does this sound like the place where you live?
For parents especially, the home front can more often feel like a construction site, or a three-ring circus. Perhaps even a battle zone.
Finding spiritual enlightenment – or even a good night’s sleep – in the midst of blaring televisions and fighting children can be a challenge. Add in a couple broken appliances, a stack of unpaid bills and last year’s goal of painting the house and enlightenment gives way to exhaustion.
If this sounds like life at your address, don’t give up hope. Here are three great strategies to help you find some peace, prosperity and renewal in your very own home.
No house paint required, I promise.
1. Make Your House Your Family’s Home
This may sound a little nuts, but are you really sharing your home gracefully with its other occupants?
Or, do you secretly / subconsciously regard your spouse and children as long-term visitors, who are welcome to occupy the space allotted to them, provided they abide by your rules and always clean up after themselves?
Take some time to meditate on this. You may be carrying more negative energy than you think. I know that I can get all caught up in my frustrations over who always ends up picking up the soggy bath towels or wiping down the sticky residue on the kitchen counter. (That would be me, of course.)
I can be similarly distracted from my spiritual journey by the sounds of my children living their adolescent lifestyles: Loud video games, incoherent phone conversations (“uh hey uh what’s up?”) and stomping around the house like elephants.
Still, when I think about these children that I love more than life itself, I can acknowledge that I want them to find sanctuary in our family home, as much as I do myself.
Where do you want your wife, husband or child to find their place of rest and renewal?
I assume the answer is, “at home.” With you.
This might mean that a new perspective is called for. How do you want to approach and manage your household? How can you create a space where every member of the family lives happily at home?
The answer is different for every family.
I invite you to pray. Meditate. Write an affirmation and repeat it often. Maybe something like, “Every member of our family finds peace and comfort in our home. We share our space joyfully. Our home is our sanctuary.”
With an open heart and a little perseverance, you will come to know how you want to share your family space.
2. Bless Your Family Home
Take a deep breath, find some quiet moments and bless your house. You can do this mentally or physically... create your own ritual and have fun with it. Get the kids to join in, if possible.
The key here is to release negative energies, emotions and memories, then fill your living space with love and gratitude.
An easy way to bless your home: Sit quietly, with your eyes closed. Pretend you are walking in the front door of your home. Say to yourself, “I bless my home with love. Thank You, for this wonderful space. My home is a healthy, safe and joyful haven for me and my family. Thank You.”
Mentally walk into each room in your house and as you enter, bless the space and give thanks. “I bless my kitchen with love. Thank You, for this room where our family shares healthy meals and loving conversation. Thank You.”
You get the idea. Bless your whole house, including the basement and garage. Fill yourself with gratitude for your home and fill your home with love.
You can perform the same blessings in person... simply stand at your front door and repeat the same words, walking from room to room.
Add rituals that feel meaningful to you. Open the windows in each room and gather fresh air and sunshine into your home.
Take a candle with you and light it as you bless each room. Throw your arms up over your head, smile and give thanks.
Kneel down and say a prayer.
Love your home.
3. Choose Your Corners
For the times when the stresses – and chaos – of everyday life continue to intrude, you need your very own little corner of the universe.
So do your children and your spouse.
Make sure everyone in the family has a special place that is all their own. It doesn’t have to be big... it could literally be a corner, a window seat or a closet.
Choose these spots wisely and let each family member place some personal mementos, comfy pillows and favorite books there.
Encourage your children to use their sanctuaries as a place of retreat and renewal; and make sure the entire family (Mom and Dad included) learns to respect the sanctity of another person’s space.
My special space is a small sun room at the back of our house. It is only about six by eight feet and it doesn’t even have a door. But it does have windows on three sides, a couple flowering plants and a small fountain. And when I am seated on my special cushion, with the fountain burbling and my meditation music playing, my children know to leave me be... Most of the time.
If you haven’t already given yourself the gift of a private space, start right now: Go pick your corner, curl up with a good book (maybe a glass of wine) and tune out the world for awhile.
Blessings to you, your family and your home.
Related Posts: For many of us, it’s not just the TV or video games that get in the way of serenity. Are you overwhelmed by clutter? Find some tips for clearing your space and clearing your mind in, How to Bring Order to Your Chaos and Are You Too Attached to Your Stuff?
Recommended Reading: For a wealth of ideas on how to create the lifestyle you really want for your family, see Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet by Norma Lehmeier-Hartie. There is something for everyone – and every home – in this wonderful, award-winning book
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