What Dwells Here?
We are in the strangest week of the year.
The space between Christmas and the new year just feels…weird. The rush is over, but nothing new is starting yet. There is excitement about what is coming, but a quiet tiredness that is just beneath the surface. Gratitude and exhaustion seem to coexist.
Everywhere we turn, we are surrounded by talk of resets. New habits. New planners. New goals. All the things we want to fix or improve.
But I have noticed something about myself in this in-between space. Even when life slows down, my inner world struggles to pause.
I may finally have a quiet moment, but my mind keeps running. Replaying conversations. Scrolling. Thinking about what is next. Carrying stress I did not realize I was holding.
And it reminds me that our lives are not shaped only by what we do. They are shaped by what we allow to live inside us.
Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from it.
Guarding our hearts does not mean shutting out the world or living in isolation.
It means paying attention. Being aware of what we are giving space to.
What we scroll.
What we replay.
What we turn to when we are tired or overwhelmed.
Those things do not simply pass through us. They take up residence. They dwell.
And the things that dwell in us don’t stay in us.
They shape our words, our reactions, our stress levels, and our capacity to love.
They shape our homes, our relationships, and the environments we are creating around us.
That is why, as a new year approaches, I have been returning to a different question.
Before asking what I want to change, what if I ask what I am allowing to dwell?
When Scripture talks about a “house,” it is rarely speaking only about a building. It is talking about a life, a people, a pattern, a legacy.
Our inner world and our everyday rhythms are forming a kind of house, whether we realize it or not.
And every one of us is shaping one.
Not all at once.
Not perfectly.
But continually.
What dwells in us shapes what is built through us.
Faith is often formed in quiet, ordinary ways.
Not just through big moments or clear decisions, but through what we repeatedly give our attention and intention to.
Formation is always happening. The question is what is doing the forming.
As we stand at the edge of a new year, there is an invitation here. Not to rush into fixing or improving, but to pause long enough to notice.
To listen. To ask God what He may be shaping beneath the surface.
What do I want my house to be known for in this next season?
What do I want to give room to?
What may need less space than it has had?
Because when we name what we want to give room to, we begin to build with intention.
If these questions resonate with where you find yourself in this season, I created a gentle reflection guide called What Will Dwell Here?
It is not a checklist or a set of resolutions.
It is a quiet space to look back honestly, listen prayerfully, and name what God may be inviting you to build around in the year ahead.
If you are longing for a slower, more thoughtful way to step into a new season, you can explore the guide here.
