A Knock At the Door

Have you ever had that sick feeling at the pit of your stomach because the resounding echo of the doorbell is permeating the sound waves of your private space? Have you ever hid behind the drapes and prayed whoever it is would just hurry up and leave, yet wishing that you could have let them in? Have you had to answer the door while trying to block the view of the UPS man, who just might get a glimpse of what lies beyond?

Just what, exactly, is it that people see when they step through the doorposts and into the entry way of your home? Does it reflect the ever-ready spirit of hospitality, that you hope it would?

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20 NIV).

Can you imagine that scenario?

This is one of the most well-known verses of Scripture,and certainly it refers to openness to receive Christ into our hearts; yet if we were put it into the context of this particular blog, it would be cause enough for me to want to do an all-out assault, or at the very least - a quick pick-me-up, of the entry points of my own earthly domain!

How about you? Would you suddenly find yourself turning into a major “Martha” and forgetting all about your “Mary” side? (See Luke 10:38-42)

If we are to be receptive and hospitable, in order to reflect the love of Christ, and to be good stewards of the things He has entrusted to us then, do our foyers and mudrooms reflect the welcoming atmosphere we would want to offer up to Him?

A wonderful exercise to find out what people see when they first enter your home is to walk out your front door, close it, and pretend you are a first-time visitor gracing your home with the expectation of a wonderful visit. Purposeful intent and focus with this viewpoint will aid you in seeing things with “fresh eyes”. You will actually begin to the notice all the things that your own eyes have become accustomed to, on a daily basis. Pretend you have entered the home of someone you just met for the first time and you are waiting by the door.

Like them, as they stand waiting to enter your home, allow your eyes to scan over the vista. What is your immediate reaction? Lovely? Orderly? Peaceful? Yikes!? What a mess? Who lives here? Please, send help Lord!

Check out your flat surfaces. Are there things piled on the stair steps? Let’s not even stop to mention the high cost or value of the safety issues on this alone! How about tables piled with papers, mail, briefcases, keys, glasses, and portable technological devises? Are there coats slung on the newel post at the bottom of the banister rail? Is your hall tree-stand, or coat-rack, overflowing with more coats than there are members of your family? Is the closet door open? Are the coats falling off of the hangers? Are there scarves, mitts, and paraphernalia strewn about the bottom of cupboard? Is your footwear on a boot tray, or thrown haphazardly into a pile of seasonal variety? Are there toys lying on the floor, or a pile of old newspapers waiting to go out to the recycling bin, on the next trip out the door?

Take a few moments and beautify the entryway of your home. Are the pictures on your walls straight? Are the ceiling fixtures clean and sparkling? Do you need to dust and clean your glass items?

What is it that you really need in this area? Do you need to purchase a portable closet, a coat-rack, or a boot tray? A wonderful three or four drawer basket unit for collecting up the loose items that tend to gather by your door can reduce the amount of visual clutter that can pile up just one small bit at a time.

Remember to toss junk mail at its point of entry, as you collect your mail on the way in, and don’t set it down and allow it to pile beside the door. Address the mail immediately (sorry, no pun intended) and get the unwanted, unneeded items off to their new home! As for the items you need to mail, how about using a small bowl in an art piece as a temporary launch pad? It would add aesthetic value, as well as functionality.

If you like piling items at the tops and bottoms of the steps to take with you on your next trip up or down, keep it corralled in a basket or bin. Again, don’t allows safety issues to surface! There are stair-step, shaped baskets also on the market and they are a great solution when there is no landing space.

Ever handy, a basket or bag for library books, DVDs, and other items that need to be returned, will keep the visual clutter at bay. Of course, there are also cell phones, chargers, i-pods, gps units, cables, and other bits and pieces of technology that also need a home. If you tend to use them more when you come and go to various activities, find them a place that is conducive to grabbing them on your way in and out of the door!

Speaking of running in and out of the door, the dog leash could be hung inside a closet on a self-sticking wall hook, in a convenient point-of-use location, where you can grab it with your coat.

Do you require bags for the poop-and-scoop method? (Make an easy homemade plastic bag holder to stuff and store your bags in. You can make this quick and easy item if you can sew a straight line. Scraps will do for this one, or even cutting a 16 inch section off the bottom of a pair of jeans that have seen better days! Use the belt loop as the hanger on the top, and turn the bottom up, stitch and run an elastic through it! Fill it through the top, and pull the bags out from the elastic portion of the bottom! Remember, even if you don’t sew, you can use a fusible tape and an iron to clean up your edges. Recycle and go “green”, or use the smaller regular unzipped sandwich bags, and save the larger grocery bags for the grocery store! This is only one small step to reduce the amount of plastic in the landfill sites!) Remember to move winter coats into storage, and summer clothing into your favorite storage bins, during the seasonal transitions. This will reduce the volume of items in the closet!

A mat or carpet appropriately placed, to catch the dirt and dust on your shoes, will minimize the time spent on hands and knees cleaning floors. Wherever possible, use one entry point for your daily, everyday use. By saving the front door area for your company, you will be reducing the amount of grit and grime, or melting snow that puddles on your floor. Unfortunately, a lot of the newer home designs are built with the door in front, and this becomes the main entry way. Many of the rear accesses are often patio doors off the kitchen, or a direct door access from the garage, that opens into a main hallway or laundry room.

Plants, for both aesthetic reasons and oxygen purification, in a “green” way, are also a wonderful addition to your entry spaces. They bring “life” into the area, which happens by visually bringing the outdoors in, thereby resulting in warmth in your home’s atmosphere.

Consider changing your decor up seasonally, by altering it to reflect the seasons or holidays.

What about a mirror for guests to use for quick touch-ups and a chair or bench for people to sit on for the removal of footwear?

You may even want to consider politely asking guests to remove their shoes upon entering your home. (My husband is lovingly restoring the soft pine floors of our heritage home. It would be heartbreaking to see it all marked up with the divot making, pointy heel marks from high-heeled shoes, after all that work. So, I have a bag/basket of washable slippers that I keep right inside the doors, which I provide for the guests in my home. They can wear them and avoid snags in their foot-garments and pantyhose , and we reap the value of the labor, while maintaining the integrity of the original floors. Of course, these slippers are washable, clean and wearable. Regular, visiting friends have dubbed certain ones as their own, and we try to keep them specially set aside just for them. So now when they come in, they instinctively grab for their own. Other friends of mine hold weekly prayer meeting in their homes, and since they knit or crochet, they have a stash of homemade slippers in baskets at their doors, as well. At the conclusion of the meeting, one in particular, asks her guests to toss them onto the floor and she gathers them up and takes them to her laundry room to be added along with the next load. At the next weekly prayer meeting we all take a fresh pair from the basket once again. People also graciously donate all their leftover yarns and half completed projects to her, and she recycles them into more new slippers in small, medium, and large sizes).

Please, consider just who is knocking on your door. Are you open to receiving? By softening your heart and allowing the “One” entry or access into the recesses your heart and home, you can transform your life, and the life of your household.

See you next week!