Home Beautiful

I have been reading Home Beautiful,by J.R. Miller. It is an old book from 1912 and was revised in 1993 and reprinted in 2000. Though it is old and maybe considered by some old fashioned in it's content, I have found it helpful and practical. He has suggestions and opinions about the family that you can take or leave, but when it comes down to biblical principals, they are timeless and transcend culture. The counsel he gives in this book regarding our roles, married life, children's responsibilities, etc. that are biblical, apply to us today whether or not we deem it culturally relevant or acceptable.

Here is a portion of the book that I am currently mulling over where he speaks of what the home can be when seen as a ministry:

Every true home is a blessing to the community where it stands. Its lights shine out. Its songs ring out. It's spirit breathes out.The neighbors know whether it is hospitable or inhospitable, warm or cold, inviting or repelling. Some homes bless no lives outside their own circle; others are perpetually pouring out sweetness and fragrance. The ideal christian home is a far-reaching benediction. It sets it's lamp in the windows,and while they give no less light to those within, they pour a little beam upon the gloom without, which may brighten some dark path and put a little cheer into the heat of some belated passerby. Its doors stand open with welcome to everyone who comes to seek shelter from the storm, or sympathy in sorrow, or help in trial. It is a hospice, where the weary or the chilled or the fainting are sure always of refreshment, of warmth, of kindly friendship, of gentle ministry of mercy. It is a place where one who is in trouble may go for sympathy and comfort. It is a place where the young people love to go, because they know they are welcome and because they find there inspiration and help.

And this spirit of the home the wife makes; indeed, it is her own spirit filling the house and pouring our light and fragrance. A true wife is universally beloved. She is recognized as one of God's angels scattering blessings as far as her hand can reach. Her neighbors are all blessed by her ministrations. When sickness or sorrow touches any other household, some token of sympathy finds its way from her hand into the shadowed home. To the old she is gentle and patient. To the young she is helpful. To the poor she is God's hand reached out. To the sufferer she brings strength. To the sorrowing she is consoler. There is trouble nowhere near but her face appears at the door and her hand brings its benediction.


I have to ask myself: What is the spirit, the fragrance of my home? Is it beautiful?