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In the devotional, Our Daily Bread, Martin Dehaan II asks, “What is a Mother’s idea of a dream home? A one-story, ranch style house on a half-acre lot with a fenced-in yard for the children? Three bedrooms, two large bathrooms, a big family room, a modern kitchen, and a two-car garage?” Or maybe her dream home would have a beautiful garden and a view overlooking a quiet lake.”

Depending on your tastes, each of those has possibilities. Dehaan reminds us that there is more to a home than walls, cabinets, carpet, and paint. He says, “A dream home is a place here children obey their father and honor their mother.” The most important characteristics of a home are the spiritual qualities and the love between father, mother, and children.”

Something more is required to make a suburban tract house into a family home. A loving, nurturing atmosphere is a feature no homebuilder can offer, yet those attitudes transform a one-room apartment, or a sprawling mansion. Love for our family and a fear of the Lord can turn any house into a dream home, where every member of the family finds true joy.

—Our Daily Bread, Sunday, May 9, 1999, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

1 Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”