New Series: More Than Square Footage

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.”—Psalm 90:1 (ESV)

Last year, my husband and I began talking about moving from our current home to an apartment—a temporarily smaller space—until we could find a home closer to our church. I admit my first reaction was not what I expected — not grief exactly, but a kind of interior reckoning. I realized how much I had attached my sense of home to my things, my space, my accumulated life.

I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t always had a peaceful relationship with home. Earlier in our marriage, watching friends settle into nicer houses while we served in ministry, I wanted what they had. I wanted the beautiful home and the calling. Over time, however—and not without struggle—I learned to make the most of what we had instead of grieving what we didn’t.

Then recently, while traveling and staying in a small Airbnb with just the essentials, something unexpected happened. I felt lighter. Happier, even. And I came home wondering: what if less is actually more? Do I really need all that I think I need?

That question is what inspired this series. In it we’ll explore: What are the most crucial elements of a home? Does more space mean a better home? What are some blessings of living in a smaller space? In fact, the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I’m wondering if downsizing is actually going to free me up instead of limiting me.

Now, to be clear, I’m not advocating a minimalist lifestyle. Rather, I’m trying to look at this from a theological perspective. As I’ve been asking myself questions, I realized I want to spend our time and resources on people and ministry, not on maintaining a house. This will require me to make the real decision at the heart of it: am I willing to let go of the things of this earth in order to hold more tightly to what lasts?

What I keep coming back to is this: the things I most want my home to be have nothing to do with square footage. The most important things are available whether I have a big home or a small one.

Warmth. Welcome. Rest. Connection. Joy. These are the things I want most in my home. And they are already mine in Christ, whether I live in a one bedroom apartment or a mansion.

Conversely, a big home doesn’t guarantee these qualities either. I have been inside large, beautifully appointed homes that were cold and dreary. Yet, I have also been inside small, modest spaces that had all of these features.

We cannot purchase warmth. We cannot renovate our way into welcome. These things are cultivated in the heart, by the people who live there, through the quality of presence they bring to the space.

Our True Dwelling Place

But here is what I am only beginning to understand as I begin this series: I am not even sure those qualities are ultimately cultivated by me at all.

I am beginning to suspect that the warmth I want my home to have, the rest I want it to offer, the beauty I want it to reflect, the welcome I want it to extend — these are not things I can manufacture through better decorating choices or more intentional rhythms, though those matter. They flow from somewhere. Or rather, from Someone.

Psalm 90 calls God himself our dwelling place — not a place we create but a person we inhabit. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before there were homes, before there were spaces to tend or downsize or make beautiful, there was this: a God who is himself the home his people have always needed.

I don’t know yet what that means for me or how much space I’m going to have. But I’m realizing this is really about my heart posture—and I’ll be working that out in these posts alongside you.

This series will be my thinking out loud, my preaching to myself as I anticipate this future move. I am not writing as someone who has arrived at a smaller space and found it sufficient. I am writing as someone standing at the threshold — as I learn to loosen my grip on what I have here on earth so I can prepare myself for this next season. I want to begin imagining what it looks like to maximize my small home for eternity.

If you’re in a small space, I hope this series will help you see it with new eyes. If you’re blessed with a larger space, I hope it helps you to likewise consider how you can steward your home for his purposes.

From My Home to Yours

Throughout the series, I will suggest some of the practical things I’ll be doing to work towards this end. If you’d like to join in, check out this section at the end of each post!

For this post: Walk through your home, praying through each room and remembering that whatever space you have is his. As the tabernacle and temple reflected His heart and values, pray that your home will likewise point to His goodness and character.