Home is where the [blank] is

I often question: What does HOME mean? Obviously, it depends.

After all, during our 30 years of marriage caring for 12 cats and 2 kids, John and I have set up households 16 times.  The longest we have lived in any dwelling is 8 years.  We have been involved in church work in Europe, North America, and now Africa.

“Home is where the [blank] is”: What is the best way to fill in the blank?  Where can we get clarity? This impacts my life now! How you answer shapes your well-being too.

The Word of Christ in our home

Recently my husband and I assisted with running a marriage workshop with Kenyan Lutheran couples. The majority of them live in their communities as pastor families. The schedule emphasized the importance of our relationships as we serve others in and out of our own households.  I especially was intrigued to be there since it was my first time in this part of Africa.  John started visiting Kenya in 2019.  It was fantastic to share this experience with him and all the other attendees.

We encouraged each other to practice the unique roles clearly given to husbands and wives in the Bible:

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord (Colossians 3:18)

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them (Colossians 3:19)

Together we put our married lives into context: We are “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved” (Colossians 3:12) who are to “let the peace of Christ rule in [our] hearts, since as members of one body [we] were called to peace. And be thankful (verse 15).  

We practiced what St. Paul encourages all of us to do in the next verse:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.“

So here is how I would fill in the missing idea in the opening paragraph:

Home is where THE WORD of CHRIST is.

We focused on the Bible’s spiritual guidance for our married life as well as digging into practical themes. We adapted “God on Marriage” by Dr. Daniel Akin and “Distracted Marriage” by Pastor Randy Hunter (WELS Adult Discipleship). Pastor Onunda presented in both English and Swahili.

My husband directed whole-group activities and ensured private couple time to discuss God-given roles and overcome problems. We recommitted ourselves to give our marriage the attention it needs and to initiate meaningful conversations with each other. We reviewed how to build in time to discuss issues and to understand each other better. Most importantly, we realized we can forgive each other because of how God forgives us through what Christ did for us.

And quite fittingly, our marriage workshop concluded with the baptism of baby Milan, the only child in attendance.

Living together on this side of heaven

God gives us this gift of Christ’s promises in that Word. From it, we have the vital message that Christ has saved us and has prepared an eternal heavenly Home. This puts our earthly situations and relationships into perspective.  Christ gives us faith, peace, unity, thankfulness, wisdom, and fellowship even as we may struggle with where exactly we belong here in our lives.  

Sometimes we show frustration with how best to relate to others–even to our spouse whom we promised to love! But because Christ lived perfectly and died instead of us for our stubbornness and pride, we have forgiveness. This is not because of what we couples do but because of what Christ did for us. His sacrifice is perfect whereas our material and emotional sacrifices are not. Because Christ draped us in His perfection, God welcomes us to His home. Meanwhile, He gives us the strength to love our families even better each day.

Here are some of the comments we received after the workshop ended:

• “On behalf of my family l would like to thank the LCMC Kenya office for planning the retreat in Mombasa, It has refreshed our family and taught us new things that will strengthen our staying together and our work in the Lord’s vineyard too. It was a good encouragement too. Be blessed.”
• “I and my dear wife want to thank God and those Leaders who planned the pastors’ trip to Mombasa. May almighty God bless you all servants we are so grateful for the unity and love we had.”
• “I too and my wife dearly say thank you to almighty God, the Lcmc leadership, and our mission partners for the opportunity of bringing us together. We wish to have this annually for the health of the family of which we are the role model.
  Any member with useful material please share.”

Please pray that God uses the time we spent together to strengthen Christian love in our homes.

May God help us keep the Word of Christ in our relationships as we are headed for our heavenly HOME!

Nancy Roebke lives in Malawi with her husband John.

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa