Fixer Upper 5 – Living Room: Sharing Our Lives with Others
When I was a kid growing up we would go visit my grandparents on 44th street in Lubbock. I can still remember what it was like to pull up in the drive way and go up those three concrete steps on the porch and opening the screen door and going into their living room. They each had their chairs with a table in between them. There was a couch that would fold down into a bed that we would sleep on during Christmas visits. In all the years we would go there the chairs only moved once. When we were older and it was summer we would rattle the door as we went in because my grandmother would sit with her shirt open. We had to make sure that she knew we were coming in so she could cover up.
My grandpa’s chair was on the right and I can remember being little and sitting in his lap and watching football games with him. He had the beard stubble no matter what time of the day it was that he would rub on the back of your neck that would tickle to no end. It is one of my favorite memories as a kid. In that chair I learned about football and had my first sip of beer at a young age. He wasn’t real happy when he caught me with it in my hand. I got lucky and he didn’t tell my mom. I used to look forward to our visits and that living room was the place where we were just together and spent time with each other.
That is what living rooms are for: sharing our lives with each other. It is the place to simply be together and share our days with each other. Sitting in that recliner with my grandpa I learned about life and we shared stories with each other. That is the way everything is passed down in families. We teach our kids a lot when we are not trying to teach them something. It is in the many moments we have with them and just listen and play that their lives are changed and we help them grow as people. In Deuteronomy 6:4 – 9 Moses lays out some thoughts for talking with our kids about faith. “Listen, people of Israel! The LORD our God is the only LORD. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Always remember these commands I give you today. Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your forehead to remind you, and write them on your doors and gates.”
God wants us to share our faith with our kids every chance we get. Not to give them a sermon but to honestly share our faith. To share a prayer, stories from the Bible and to help them see how much God loves them. Our church gave children’s Bibles to each of our families so that they could read them with their kids. It amazed me when the adults began to talk about how many of the stories were teaching them and how it was helping them share their own faith with their kids. A church can only do so much in helping your children come to faith. It is truly there to backup and guide parents as they teach their children about God and faith. I am surprised at times that we turn over something so important to a once a week time for our kids with God. We need to make it an everyday experience in the small moments of our days. It is not knowing all the answers about faith but exploring our questions together that will lead them to find their own faith.
That couch from my grandparent’s house was always crowded with people during the holidays. We all crammed on there to watch television and wait for dinner to be ready. It was where stories from our extended families all shared the stories of their lives. That is what makes that couch such a great place. It was also the place where we talked about our faith within our family. At our house friends would come to over and sit around the living room and talk about everything under the sun. I remember my parents talking with their friends about faith and how God was working in our family.
I think we need to all remember the words from Peter’s letter to the early church. He wrote: “…And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.” [1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)] We need to be ready to just have a conversation about faith whenever it happens to come up with our friends. It is just share our experience with God with our friends. Not in a sermon or a lecture but in a heartfelt conversation. The living room is where we can share our lives with those we invite in.
When I was 12 my grandpa passed away. The day of his funeral was tough. I remember going back to the house and going in the living room. His chair was there, no one was sitting in it. I sat in the chair and just remembered the neck rubs, smell of beer and cigarettes. Most of all I remembered all the love he shared with me. When it was all said and done that is what has never left me. That feeling of being accepted and loved by someone changed my whole life. It was the one spot in the world as a kid that I was good. He gave me a gift in those times just sitting together in that recliner. I have only hoped all this time that I could return that gift to the people in my life.