🌿 Not Performance. Presence.

(Journal from the Homestead)

For decades now, we as people have been trying to fill a void that only Jesus can fill.

We work harder.
We decorate better.
We schedule fuller.
We perform, and impress, and strive — believing that if we just do enough, have enough, become enough, the emptiness will go away.

But it never does.
It only grows heavier.

We lose the peace in our homes as we rush to maintain appearances.
We lose the closeness in our relationships as we exchange genuine presence for polished performance.
We lose the quiet strength of our souls as we drown ourselves in noise, busyness, and endless doing.

The world has turned its back on Jesus — and in doing so, it has also lost the only true foundation for life, love, and lasting peace.

His precepts are not old-fashioned burdens.
They are the living blueprints for joy, for belonging, for wholeness.

When we abandon His ways, we find ourselves caught in an endless race:
Chasing meaning, chasing security, chasing approval — but never finding it.

Because we were not created to perform for love.
We were created to abide in it.

🌾 Real home isn’t about performance.

It’s about presence.
It’s not about impressing.
It’s about inviting.
It’s not about noise.
It’s about nourishment.

🏡 A Home That Welcomes

A home isn’t a showroom.
It’s a shelter.

A warm chair pulled close to the fire.
A fresh loaf of bread set out, not for display, but because someone’s hands will soon be breaking it.
A window that lets in golden afternoon light over a floor that might not be perfectly swept — but is full of life.

Our homes should not be curated to impress the neighbors.
They should be cultivated to invite the people God places at our tables.

When my family comes through the door, I don’t want them to step into perfection.
I want them to step into peace.

Not performance. Presence.
Not impressing. Inviting.
Not noise. Nourishment.

🌼 Relationships Built on the Same Foundation

It’s easy to get caught in the same cycle in our relationships too —
trying to “show up” just right, to “do enough,” to “be enough.”

But no one’s soul thrives on performance.
What we long for — in marriage, in friendship, in raising children, and even with neighbors passing by — is real presence.

• A husband who doesn’t need a polished speech, just a listening heart.
• A child who doesn’t need a Pinterest-perfect birthday, but a mama who looks them in the eye.
• A neighbor who doesn’t need a fancy tea party, just a warm welcome and a chair to sit a spell.

“Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.”
— Proverbs 17:1

In our walk with God, it’s no different.

He is not impressed by our endless doing.
He delights in our quiet presence.

He invites us not to perform, but to abide.

🌿 A Life That Nourishes

The world prizes busyness.
Schedules full to bursting.
Lives so loud we can barely hear ourselves think, let alone hear the voice of the Lord.

But deep living — real living — is found in the quieter places:

• A well-worn Bible left open on the kitchen table.
• A prayer whispered while the soup bubbles over the stove.
• A moment spent rocking a grandbaby while the laundry waits its turn.
• A walk taken just to feel the sun warm your face again after a long winter.

It’s not that the tasks don’t matter.
It’s that the spirit with which we move through them matters more.

The work will never be fully done.
But the invitation to presence — the invitation to real nourishment — remains open.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
— Matthew 11:28

🧺 A Blessing for the Quiet Life

May your home be a place of presence, not performance.
May your life be a door thrown open wide, not a trophy polished and shelved.
May your hands create spaces of invitation, not intimidation.
And may your soul find nourishment in the quieter rhythms,
where God’s voice is always speaking, and love is always enough.