What Makes a House a Home?

I’ve walked into many houses that are definitely not homes. Some are so cluttered with stuff that I couldn’t find a place to sit down. Then there are those that are so sterile they appear to be a set for a photo shoot, making me afraid to touch anything or even breathe. I would not want to live in either one.

I believe a house is simply a building, a place to store your possessions; a home houses your heart and soul and abundantly overflows with love.

Many years ago I heard a quote that has stuck in my mind. “A home should be clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be joyfully lived in.” A little dust I've heard just means someone is either coming or going.

Poet Edgar A. Guest put it another way, “It takes a heap o livin’ in a house to make it a home.”

A Japanese Proverb states “Into the house where joy lives happiness will gladly come.”

In my wanderings I found this wonderful poem by blogger Rita Bourland (open.salon.com/blog/embracingepiphanies)that pretty much sums it up.

What Makes a House a Home?
The newspaper strewn on the family room couch,
a coffee cup perched on the floor,
a clock softly ticking the minutes away
of our precious time spent here on earth.

A cat on the hearth, purrs soft, warm and low,
a bird at the feeder sings sweetly each morn,
a mother hums tunes to her infant at night,
a father so proud- his heart feels so light.

There are pictures in frames, piles of books,
coasters and notepads, shoe racks and hats,
there are mittens and coats, boots and blue jeans,
laundry in stacks near the washing machine.

But all of these things matter not much
as you ponder the meaning of home,
it’s what you feel first
when you walk through the door
that makes a house truly a home.

The house might be empty of all worldly goods
leaving only the people inside.
yet they’ll fill up your heart with love and good cheer
and welcome you in from the cold.