If someone were to ask you, “what does your dream home look like?” I’d bet there’s already a Pinterest board filled with all of your #homegoals. I know, because I have one too 🙂 It’s pretty clear to know what our physical dream home looks like, but it wasn’t until recent that I asked myself what my non physical dream home looked like. I call it “soul dreams” for your home.

These are the kind of dreams that will potentially make a forever impact in someone’s life. It’s the memories made within the walls of your home that will stay with someone for a lifetime- Saturday morning forts, late night laughter, wiping a friend’s tears, fellowship on your living room floor. A place where coffee can be made within minutes, and a sense of family is offered for all who enter your home.

As you may know, I’m a firm believer that you can intentionally set the atmosphere to make your home as welcoming and inviting as possible. Curating a home that exudes warmth and rest can speak volumes to your guest’s comfort. With that said, home decor can only be an extension of us- it can’t replace our heart for people. No matter how beautifully a home is styled, it can still feel emotionally empty. In order to create a warm atmosphere, love needs to be more present than the appealing aesthetics. So, how can we make our home’s soul dreams larger than the physical dreams?

A way to extend these dreams into our homes is by first prioritizing family, rest and being present. If our homes are suppose to be a haven- then we should learn what that looks like in each of our families.  It might mean saying “no” to one of those planned events (or it may look like adding one). There are so many different ways of how people view their home as a haven- but that’s for another post at another time 😉

A tangible way to focus on “soul dreams” is by writing them down on a piece of paper. Use that list as a go to when you feel yourself out of balance, and needing to be reminded of the bigger picture. It doesn’t have to be a long and complicated list, just simple reminders/prayers that you know your soul will need. It isn’t a solve all solution, because as we know life is messy and far from perfect. But, if there comes a day when you feel your home shattering into pieces- it might be the thing you’ll need to refocus.

So what does your (non physical) dream home look like? I’d love to hear them in the comments below. If you’re curious what mine are- read below:

Soul Dreams for the Parker home:

Children:

My prayer is that it’s a place where they can:

• Understand grace
• Feel physically/emotionally/spiritually safe
• Make positive childhood memories
• Feel unconditionally loved
• Have fun together
• Openly talk about what’s on their minds/ hearts
• Learn how to be boys of integrity
• Ultimately fall more in love with Jesus

Community:

• We discover community unlike no other
• Friends and family feel deeply loved/ cared for
• A place where all feel welcomed
• We never give up pointing each other to Jesus

Marriage:

• Daily fall more in love with each other
• Assume the best about each other
• Forgive
• Live the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love
• Laugh together, cry together, cheer on each other

Xoxo,

Maren