One of the things Downs asks us today is, “What does it look like to serve and be brave in your own home?” I’m still learning a lot about serving, even after a couple of decades of a husband and five children, two of which are adult-ish. Life goes through seasons and oftentimes my attitude to serving seems to lag behind a bit. The question I asked myself today was in what way would serving, particularly in my own home, be an act of bravery. We considered the other day how serving from our home can mean the sacrifice of our personal space or time, but brave seems to be one step more than that. Why oh why would serving those you live with be brave?

If I use definitions of brave such as ‘facing unpleasantness or pain without fear’ maybe it becomes clearer. Serving and stating are unpleasant sometimes; I don’t want to. Turning the other cheek, putting myself last, getting up when I’m tired all hurt; I don’t want to. Doing those things for five minutes or a five days is tiring but mostly doable, but for five months or five years or forever? I don’t know if I want to. Maybe that’s where the brave comes in.

Downs closes by suggesting we ask God to show us how we can be brave with our house. Do we want to?