To follow Jesus, our actions must match our heart.   ~~~   When I’m designing a house, it’s important to me that the design is cohesive both inside and out. I want each room to have its own personality yet be cohesive in telling the same story. For example, when hired to renovate this short-term rental, I playedoff the fact that this property was in close proximity to the local tennis courts to come up with a vintage preppy theme. I then let this theme dictate the color scheme, fixtures, and finishes of the home. Not only do you see this theme from room to room and even in the bathroom, but I was also mindful to carry the theme to the exterior of this house as well. Now I’ll admit when renovation budgets are tight it is very tempting to want to spend the entire budget on interior updates alone. But if I had neglected to address the broken windows, chipped paint, wobbly handrails, and overgrown landscape on the outside, it wouldn’t have mattered how cute the inside was. Guests would be tempted to turn around and leave when they pulled up to the house and saw what little care and attention was given to the exterior. The exterior is the first impression of a home and whether true or not, sets the expectation of what one expects to find on the inside. So, I made sure the outside of this home was a true reflection of what guests would find on the inside, in both the care and maintenance as well as the design. And I truly think it was divine intervention when it hit me that this Tennis themed house was found on Prince St.   This cohesive theme from inside and out should be the goal of our spiritual life as well. What benefit is there if you read the bible or attend church on Sunday in your private life but then live a life that does not reflect Christ in your public life?   James, Jesus’ brother, says it this way, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” James 1: 22-25. The opposite can be just as harmful. If you proclaim to be a christian in your public life but do nothing to feed your spiritual life on the inside... Well, just listen to how Jesus himself describes those that live with this kind of incoherence.   “You are like whitewashed tombs-beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” -Matthew 23: 27-28.   Yikes. It doesn’t matter how nice and shiny your outside appears, Jesus sees and knows what is on the inside. When we surrender our lives to the will of God, making Jesus the central theme of our life, our outside and inside will be cohesive. Thanks for allowing me to share another renovation with you and for joining me as we discover God’s restoration for our lives here on Storybook Homes.