keeper at home

I’ve recently come across the term “home keeper” a lot lately, and it does something wonderful to my soul. It just FITS my heart so well. It’s the beautiful concept of being the *“keeper at home” — the guardian, the one who sets the tone for home and family, who guards, protects, and maintains the spirit of home.

Erin Verdonck, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts — I mean, home. 

I want my home to be a place that is peaceful, and happy, and safe. A place that you want to come back to at the end of the day. A place that is welcoming to friends and family and strangers alike. A place that is comfortable and full of love.

And so I am the keeper at my home.

📷: @erinkvdonck

I’m a homebody by nature, and while I do enjoy getting out, I am happiest in my own home. That used to be about having a space to retreat to alone when the world was too much; but now it’s about having a space to invite people into, to share hearts, and do life together. That big lesson I have been learning about leaving the dishes, stems directly from this: to invite people in, be present with them, share hearts, do life together, and wash the dishes later. It’s about trading in control and the desire for an Instagram-perfect house in favor of more laughs, more people, more experiences, more memories, and more love all-around. I think that’s a bigger testament to how God would have us treat each other, than stressing over whether everything is perfectly in place all the time. Martha, not Mary. People, not perfect.

I hope to share some more blog posts about how I am being the keeper of my home in the future, so consider this Part I.

♡

Erin Verdonck, keeper of hearts at home.

*Based off of Titus 2:3-5, the qualities of a sound church. It is sometimes translated as “guardian” — how cool is that?!