Worth the Wait: Vera’s Baptism Story

There isn’t a parenting manual telling us exactly what to say to our children in all the different circumstances we encounter. Can I get an amen?

The Perfect Gift

What picture pops into your mind when you think of God?  Is your image a Santa Clause God who gives you good things if you are nice?  Perhaps your picture includes thunderbolts, fire, an brimstone.  No doubt, there is good reason for the perception of God you have.  

God Wants to Be Found

“And He has made from one blood 
every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth... 

so that they should seek the Lord, 
in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him..."

Acts 17:26-27

I was folding laundry in the basement the other day and in some glorious stroke of luck the kids hadn’t seen me go down there.  I could hear the clumping around of their feet that shook the exposed beams on the ceiling and rattled the wire rack resting against the dryer.  Eleven years into parenting those noises are hardly noticeable and certainly no cause for alarm.  

I was working my way through unmatched socks when the first of many calls for my help echoed down the staircase and around the corner into the darkened room where I worked.  

“Mom!” the voice of my five year-old rang.

“Mooooooooooommmmmmm!” a louder and more annoyed elven year-old shouted.

Their calls continued and it became clear that they really didn’t know where I was.  Glory, hallelujah!  There was no way in God’s green earth I was going to make myself known to them.    

At this precise moment Acts 17:27 flashed through my mind.  

“God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach our for Him and find Him…”

Down in my basement, close enough to hear their calls, I was hoping my kids wouldn’t find me.  In stark contrast, God tells me that He, too, is near, but He is hoping we will find Him.  Oh, the great love of God to want to be found!

Does God Love Us?

I was never the type to ponder the meaning of life when I was younger.  I didn’t think much of death either.  Nothing from within or without forced me to deal with those sorts of things. 

It wasn’t until I lost my grandparents, and then my husband’s grandparents, over the past four years that the questions began to pulse through my mind with regularity.  Since then, all of my “book knowledge” about the Lord has been tested on the stage of real life. 

Why "Losing It" Could Be The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You

Raising kids is unnerving, isn’t it?  Even after a bagillion books read and seminars attended my kids still have a way of bringing me to the end of myself. 

A Volatile Business: When Circumstances Put Your Home At The Bottom Of Your Priority List

"Drops of Jupiter" gets stuck in my head anytime I hear it. I know, I know, the song came out seven YEARS ago. Well, that's about the time I started having kids and precisely the time my knowledge of top hits was replaced with "Itsy Bitsy Spider". 

To The Mom Who Is Fresh Out Of Happy This Holiday Season

Last summer I bought two pictures on sale at a local home store to spruce up the basement. One says, I choose to be happy.  The other says a host of beautiful things written in clever font that fills the canvas perfectly. Use kind words. Be nice. Be grateful. Relax. Eat healthy. Share. Love freely. Be happy. Both pictures are bright and cheery and brighten up our otherwise dark basement in a very inexpensive way. They inspire all that is good. I love looking at them....except when I don't.

A Volatile Business: When Circumstances Put Your Home At The Bottom Of Your Priority List

"Drops of Jupiter" gets stuck in my head anytime I hear it. I know, I know, the song came out seven YEARS ago. Well, that's about the time I started having kids and precisely the time my knowledge of top hits was replaced with "Itsy Bitsy Spider". 

First Things First: My Story

Hi. I’m Melissa Gilmour, the founder of Dwell Inspired.  I’m the one who wants you to love your home, improve your life, and dwell inspired.  But before I dive into all things home I want to put first things first and tell you about the most important thing in my life.  The thing that matters more than stylish houses and functional spaces. More than a clever pop of color or perfectly placed accessories.  Because even if I lived in the world’s most beautiful home I wouldn’t be living there forever.