Recently a friend sent me this quote that has resonated on different levels.

“I want my life to be an inviting guest room, where joy can walk in and stay awhile.” Ashley Wiersma

She sent it because my house has been a fairly continuous place of care and solace. As in Simon and Garfunkle’s Sparrow song, people can grow weary. We need somewhere to rest, to gather strength, to find a new direction, or renewed hope–or even cross from this life to the next. From the start, I sensed our home would be a haven. Only after we moved in did I notice the plaque from the previous owners who had named it Windhaven.

Let me tell you, we get some mighty winds rushing through this mountain valley, buffeting the walls and moaning in the chimneys. I’m fairly certain those winds inspired the name, but it means more than that to me. We all get tossed on the winds of life. My family has been buffeted in more ways than I can say. This physical shelter reminds me God is my stronghold in the day of trouble. (Nahum 1:7) He calls us to be little strongholds for each other, not necessarily our homes but certainly our hearts.

To open our lives to others as a guest room is an incredible gift. How blessed it is to share a time / place / moment of rest and renewal, of beauty and grace in the midst of storms.

And the greatest part is, that when our lives are opened up, joy does enter in. I pray we can all have a vacancy for joy to enter and abide.