~ by Natalie Haynes

~ So you may not know this, but there is this entire sector of the blogging world that does nothing but blog about home design. They are called “design blogs.” Mostly they blog about new things that they are trying in their homes, or neat things that they have seen done in other people’s homes. These women are normally operating on a budget, so they are always concerned about that. They are also always concerned about making a home that is practical for their family, and inviting. One of the most famous design bloggers, The Inspired Room, is actually the wife of a pastor out in Washington state. It makes sense to me that she would really care about how inviting her home is, since she probably has lots of people over from the church.

I have no aspirations to become a design blogger, but I do enjoy the fact that there are people out there who are talking about the design of their homes without spending gobs of money. The people i like to visit the most often have really inviting homes: Della and Krammy, the Servens, Pickard. If a home isn’t inviting it just isn’t as comfortable to visit.

There is a biblical basis for having a welcoming home. I think that “hospitality” is a spiritual gift. The story of Mary and Martha comes to mind. It is possible to get so wrapped up in entertaining and all the little details, that you forget to talk to people, hear how they are, and care for them. Jesus’ words come to mind as he rebukes Martha and tells her that what Mary has choosen (sitting at his feet) is better. It is tempting for me to read these blogs and get swept up in all of the things that I could do to make my home look like a Pottery Barn home, and to feel the pressure of being perfect.

The Nester from thenester.com is my favorite design blogger at the moment. Her and her husband are renting a home and all the walls are white. They are trying to decorate without painting. She comes up with really simple pretty things that I often feel like I could also do. Her motto is “it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” Hmmmm…that applies to a lot of things that I have been thinking about lately.

No one says that. The world tells us not to accept scratches, imperfections, rolls or cellulite. No one tells you to look for the beauty in damaged goods. Except for Jesus. Jesus, in fact, accepts us as damaged goods and loves us anyways. Jesus paid full price for us, even though we were on the clearance rack because of our imperfections.

I just have a hard time believing it. I have a hard time believing that beauty is not correlated to perfection because both my heart and the world tell me to run around forsaking God and others to achieve the ideal body type. Psalm 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Ok, maybe we have all heard this in high school youth group, but I can not help think about how this is 180 degrees different from anything else being said to me in this world. “Beauty is everything, and charm is what you need to get a man,” is what I hear.

From talking with college student women, I know that others think this too. Whether it is from comments made by parents, commercials, or skinnier best friends, we are all told to chase beauty with non-stop gusto. The message coming from the world is, “you are not loveable the way you are.” And yet, on some level I think we are all asking ourselves, “Why can’t I be loved the way I am?” We were all made to love God’s creation. The fall separated us from God and we began to question ourselves and the beauty of our bodies. God recognized our imperfections, and sent His son to save us. A statement we will all struggle to believe is true is, “I am not perfect, and I am beautiful.”

The gospel is radically different from anything being thrown at you and me in this world. Because of Jesus’ blood, he sees perfection when He looks at us. No mirror, magazine, or television ad will tell me that. Jesus, let me see what you see in the mirror. Jesus, transform my heart!

Natalie Haynes is a University of Florida graduate (2009) and now works with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at the University of Oklahoma.