Home Is Where Your Faith Is
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It's Live in the Bream with the host of Fox News Sunday, Shannon Bream. This week on Live in the Bream, I have the treat of welcoming a new friend, somebody that I'm meeting over the airwaves, but hope that we will be friends in real life too. IRL, as the kids say. For this week's Live in the Bream, Felicia Misenheimer is a blogger, an author, a speaker, a podcast host.

She teaches women about the history and depth of the Christian faith and the why behind the Bible. She's got this beautiful new book called Every Home, A Foundation, Experiencing God Through Your Everyday Routines. And don't we need to feel a little divine intervention in them sometimes? Felicia, welcome.

Thank you so much for having me, Shannon. So listen, the book starts out really talking about our homes, what we hope to accomplish there, what the home is supposed to be. I mean, for a lot of people, especially in this world, the crazier it gets, the more of a refuge it is. But you talk about a lot of this from a spiritual perspective. So give us the context on home.

Yes, I think for many of us, the home can be something that either holds very painful memories. A lot of us come from very broken homes or dysfunctional homes or the home and its tasks, you know, the cooking, the cleaning, the domestic things that we need to do just to live, feel like they're kind of in the way of real life.

or in the way of the important visible things that are changing the world. But what I argue in this book is that God gives us the hope of a home that is more than just functional. It's actually life giving and it's inherently restorative. And that the tasks of the home, those menial, mundane, unseen tasks are actually one of the ways that God works

Yeah. And so much of that, gosh, you think about the routines of, and we'll talk about the second half of the book, which is so super practical for domestically challenged people like me.

I find encouragement in that and kind of walking us through like here are ways to tackle some of the things that do get you into a routine. And so that your home is this place of restoration, as you said. And it's also a place of welcome and discipleship. I mean, I've heard so many wonderful stories and anecdotes over the years about people who say it was just a really good way to love on people, to share faith in a really practical way, to provide a good meal or a place to stay. Talk about that.

that important part of this, that we really can minister to our families and to other people through the way that we make our home welcoming.

Yes, this is such an important truth. In today's society, we really look at hospitality more as entertaining. In fact, if you look at most of the secular resources on opening your home to others, it's framed as entertaining, which in and of itself is more about showing off what we have than seeing the people who need to be welcomed. And

And so even things like HGTV and, you know, Real Simple Magazine, you look at these resources and it's often about having the right things or these amazing recipes or the perfect layout of your home in order to entertain. But

hospitality, the way it's framed in the Christian faith is that you don't need any of those things to welcome people. You can have a small, imperfect home. You can be a, maybe a mediocre cook and it doesn't matter because it's the heart of welcome that makes the difference. But so often people are so overwhelmed with the perfectionism our culture promotes, but

or this idealism about their homes, the shame that they have from our culture, that they don't actually open their homes. And there's so many people who are lonely

And that could be solved if we would embrace hospitality as God defines it versus entertaining as our culture defines it. And the difference between the two, I like to say, is that entertaining says, here I am, and hospitality says, there you are. That is so good, all of that, because I do think...

We feel pressured to make sure I do this. There are times I hesitate to have people over on the spur of the moment. My husband's laughing if he's listening to this because I have a full down meltdown. You know, it's got to be like, no, no, they need flower arrangements and I need a perfect food and I need the table redone. I mean, you know, where we do get that message if your home is not enough or if it's not clean enough or the decoration is not like you see on Pinterest that you, you know, you can't have anybody into the home.

Whereas some of the best nights are when somebody pops by and you order a pizza or that you have your home prepared enough that you feel like you can welcome people, but you don't sweat all the details. And I love how you talk about hospitality. It's really about the other person, about making them feel loved and welcomed and seen. And you talk in here too about like, don't have a football game on, don't have your phones. I mean, there are times that it's such a gift to just connect with people. And we telegraph their importance to us by, you know, limiting distractions in those things.

Yes, we do. And again, it comes back so much to realigning our understanding of home and its purpose. Because in today's world, the home is often treated as either a place to crash or a place to kind of brag about what we own or what we have. And

I like to call that middle way, holy moderation, where it's not about bragging about what we have or how much stuff or how nice it is or how big it is or how open the concept is.

And it's not about perfectionism and having like just this perfect place, nor is it just a place for us. It is a place to rest, of course, and to enjoy being just by ourselves. But thinking about the home as a place that is the center of discipleship, which simply means sharing the heart of God with other people.

sharing the beauty of relationship with other people in an accessible and approachable way. Yeah. And I love that you write about your grandmother's home so beautifully. It doesn't have to be fancy. You talk about how you felt when you were there, loved and safe and encouraged and fed and

all of these things but it was a really simple home that by the world standards would never be something to brag about but for you it's such a treasure and I think about that too I think back to my grandparents house like huh I wonder if I went by there now if it would just seem so tiny and plain and kind of just a basic house because I couldn't tell you what the size of the house was or the decorations or anything else I just know that it felt like a big hug

Yes, exactly. My grandma's trailer, because that's what it was, it was a single wide trailer, was a place that felt so welcoming and homey, even with as small as it was, because she made these simple, loving efforts to make us feel welcome.

welcome and at home. And she is one of the people, my mom taught me most of what I know about caring for the home, but my grandma taught me a lot too. And she taught me things like how to make a basic meal and how to, you know, clean a kitchen floor and things like that, that you think those things don't matter, but they actually are an

act of love for those that we are caring for. And those tasks, those unseen, mundane, repetitive things that we do are actually eternally important.

They are. And you talk about, and you've mentioned this today too, and you talk about in the book about how even the most mundane tasks that God is in that, and there can be joy in that, there can be service in that, there can be a connection with him through that. And you talk through really practical things in the second half of the book. I mean,

how to arrange a schedule for cleaning your home, how to observe holidays, how to cook, how to do laundry. You have, and I love, you have your own liturgies and poems in the book as well. And you have a liturgy for laundry, which I thought was great. So talk to us about how you come up with sort of a foundation for, you know, just really the practical aspects of keeping your home up and running.

Yes, this book is very unique in that the first half is approaching the mentality, the mindset of seeing the work of the home as something that matters for all of life, for all the people in your life and for eternity. And I want to say for those listening, I work almost full time. I work 35 hours a week running my work.

my business and ministry, leading a team. And I also homeschool my children and take care of my home. So I understand the challenges of seeing these tasks of the home as something that is

Is more than just an inconvenience because they're always there, right? I'm a working mom. I understand that challenge. But the second half of the book talks about the spiritual aspect of this and seeing these tasks as something that matters eternally because so often they just feel so empty.

pointless or mundane that it's hard to motivate ourselves to do them. And so I would just say that, you know, thinking of these, your home overall, just as a place of purpose,

not as a place that is chaotic or limiting and seeing that what you do there matters so, so much, not just for the people who are in your life, but also for you as an individual, whether you're single, married, working, a stay at home mom, a spouse, all of those things matter.

Your home is a reflection of you. It's a reflection of the gifts God's given you. And it's something to steward and your stewardship has an eternal impact. And so just seeing that starting there, starting with the mentality, then moving into the routines. I don't want people to look at this book as like, oh, it's just another decluttering book or it's just a manual for cleaning routines.

So you can get those anywhere. But that the real key to feeling peaceful at home, wanting to welcome people into your home is getting that mentality of this matters and it, and God sees it and he sees that it matters. And my efforts here, even though they're undone the next day, my efforts are actually valued.

You're right. I mean, that the whole first half of the book, getting you into the right mind space and the spiritual side of things and knowing what a gift it is, then gives you sort of the right place to start for the practical stuff, which is where I think, you know, some people struggle, like you said. I mean, if you're working and you have children or you're homeschooling or you have a busy single life, whatever you're doing, I mean, life is jam-packed with all kinds of demands and commutes and all kinds of things. So sometimes, you know,

you know, folks will just give up. They feel overwhelmed. Like I'm not a domestic goddess. I cannot be Martha Stewart. I can't do these things. And so they just kind of, you know, get through surviving what they need to do that next load of laundry or that next meal or whatever the, you know, the task in front of them is. But your book really lays out frameworks for feeling more organized around things. Then you don't get into those crisis, you know, tornado cleanup kind of situations where

with your home. I mean, you can have real peace and joy in your home by tackling these things in a more organized way that makes you feel empowered and ready. Yes, exactly. You're actually giving yourself the gift of

of freedom. So rather than being a victim of these tasks that are constantly hanging over us, we actually get to take some ownership over these tasks. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to have help with them, like to have a house cleaner once in a while or to have help with any task that's in the home. Sometimes we need that too, but ultimately all of us will be doing some kind of work

in the home at some point and just learning to give ourselves the gift of a routine that lifts some of that burden off of us.

And that requires a little bit of discipline to implement a routine. And that's why I talked about the spiritual aspect of this, the purposeful aspect of this, but then gave some really practical things you can do to kind of brainstorm what routines would set me up for freedom. So I actually enjoy my home and feel more equipped to open it to others. And you say, listen, involve your kids.

Help them to understand from an early age why this is such a special gift and how they can do practical things. You talked about this, about your mom and your grandmother kind of showing you the way in a way that you have fond memories of that and you felt equipped for a lot of these things as you entered into adulthood then.

For sure. Now, somebody who is an expert in child development would be better to have on to talk more specifically about this. But I do believe that involving our kids in the process of caring for the home gives them that same sense of mission and purpose, especially if you teach your kids that the home is meant to be a place that isn't just for them. It's for other people.

to bring them in and to be missional. You're being missional from your home. So often we talk about being missional, like let's go to another country or let's do outreach through our church. But the home is the first place of outreach. And so involving your kids in that. And an example would be I have three children. They're nine, seven and four. And we heavily involve them in any kind of hosting that we do in church.

planning out the meal and making the meal and setting the table and creating activities. So they have some ownership and are beginning to be trained in that hospitality, wanting to bring people in and welcome them into the family. And I hope that's something that they will take with them into the future. But I really, when you look at history, it's fascinating to see that for most of history,

Until quite recently, children just innately had to help with the home life because that was how you survived, right? And only the super rich would have the privilege and ability for children to not be contributing to the family. But now in our culture, we just have so many technological advances and the ways that our homes are set up. We don't have to have that.

children participate. So it's a choice, an intentional choice on the parents' part to bring kids into that. We'll have more Live in the Bream in a moment.

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Indeed.com slash Lawless. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring? Indeed is all you need. Join the 3.5 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. Yeah, again, we're talking to Felicia Misenheimer. Her new book, Every Home a Foundation, Experiencing God Through Your Everyday Routines.

I mentioned these poems and liturgies that you have. I mean, that's another gift that you have in expressing, you know, just thoughts about what these things mean and the approach that we take to them, the way that we look at them. You also talk about observing the church calendar. Now, I was really curious about this because I thought, OK, are there are there days or things that that they're doing that I'm not doing? Or what exactly does that mean to observe the church calendar if you're of the Christian faith?

Yes. So when we talk about the church calendar, those who are in what we would call high church or liturgical traditions will be familiar with this. This would be your Catholic, Anglican, Episcopalian, some Methodist who would observe things beyond just Advent and Christmas and Easter. So most Christian traditions observe Easter and Christmas, but most

Before the evangelical tradition really took off in America, you mainly had these liturgical traditions. And those churches celebrated more than just Christmas and Easter. They also celebrated things like

Pentecost and All Saints Day, All Hallowed's Eve, you had Candlemas and Epiphany. These are holidays that many evangelicals are not as familiar with because over time, we've kind of lost those holidays to those more liturgical church settings. And so I am in the evangelical tradition. I attend essentially a Baptist non-denominational church.

And we celebrate these holidays as a family because they are part of the Christian legacy. They are for all Christians. They're not just for those in liturgical denominations. So what these have done over the course of the 2,000 years that they've been in existence is they kind of create a rhythm to your year. And they create these innate celebrations that are commemorating parts of the life of Christ. So His birth, His...

His resurrection, of course, we know for Christmas and Easter, but Pentecost is the giving of the Holy Spirit. And before that, it was the giving of the law in Jewish tradition. And so you have these different markers of Christian history and Christian faith

at these holidays and those holidays are gathering times to bring together Christians and even non-Christians who are willing to come to celebrate in your home. And so for example, this year we are celebrating Epiphany as a family and in Hispanic tradition, it's called Three Kings Day. So we have a dear friend

who's from the Dominican Republic, and she's coming over to actually show us how to celebrate Three Kings Day the way they do in the Dominican Republic. And we're going to do that as a family. And so just really cool ways to bring people together to learn from other people across the church while celebrating the legacy of faith that we have. Yeah, I love that. I've got a good friend who celebrates Epiphany every year, does a big gathering in their home. She's got truly the gift of hospitality. Yeah.

And she does this every year to, again, to celebrate something that's beyond the basics of Christmas and Easter, but because it's its own important remembrance. And she'll have a home full of people and food and festivities. And at some point there is somebody who, a pastor or someone like you've got a friend coming to explain the significance of the day and kind of

you know, so it's not just a party. There is significance to this. And all of these holidays you have listed in the book, I mean, they run all year long. And I love the idea that you're kind of resetting or celebrating different parts of the faith, resetting our brains to think about that. So it's not just a couple of major holidays, but really these important, special, beautiful days and remembrances all throughout the year to remind us, but also to invite other people in and to include others in these celebrations, in our homes and in our faith. Yeah.

Yes, and I love one aspect for those who are parents who have children. You know, we have these two holidays during the year, Christmas and Easter, when we have the opportunity to show our kids just the joy of following Christ, the joy of this faith we hold for those who are Christian.

But there are so many other holidays throughout the year that can be added in to that legacy, to that experience. And I think it's just such a blessing when we can bring in the joyfulness and celebration that God intended to be part of following him.

So the book is Every Home, A Foundation, Experiencing God Through Your Everyday Routines. Felicia Misenheimer, thank you for this book, for this conversation. Tell us how we can find the book, find your blogs, your podcasts, all the other good things.

Thank you so much. Every Home of Foundation is available wherever books are sold. Amazon is, of course, one of the easiest places to grab it. You can also grab it at Barnes and Noble, christianbook.com. And then I run a ministry called Every Woman a Theologian, and that was actually my previous book, Before Every Home of Foundation. And you can find everything that we have, Verity Podcast, and all of our books, Bible studies and resources at feliciamasonheimer.com.

Okay, and I'm going to spell it because people, if you don't know, I want to make sure that you get this right. It's P-H-Y-L-I-C-I-A. Masonheimer is M-A-S-O-N-H-E-I-M-E-R. Check her out there. Get inspiration. I feel more inspired having read this book to really look at my home in a different way. It's such a gift and a treasure for us and to be shared with others. So Felicia, thank you for that reminder and for joining us on Live in the Bream.

Thank you so much. Listen ad-free with the Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app. I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by former GOP strategist and host of The Rich Zioli Show, Rich Zioli. Available now on foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Must listen to podcasts from Fox News Audio.