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The “Sharing the Faith” Life Teen Blog series features testimonies of core members who find creative ways to live out the Gospel in their unique vocational fields.

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Your walls may not be able to talk, but what if I told you they could evangelize?

Fresh out of college, my husband and I got married, started having babies and thought we had it all figured out. Fast-forward three years, and I am a stay-at-home mom to two toddler boys and a standard poodle, and we most definitely do not have it all figured out. One thing that has been unwavering despite this is our passion about being Catholic. We are also extremely passionate about passing the faith on to the youth of the Church. Yet over the past three years, it’s been a struggle at times to figure out what it looks like exactly to evangelize as a stay-at-home mom.

In college, I was involved with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). I was in discipleship, I led Bible studies, and I attended all of the conferences. Now that I have moved on to a new season of life, things look different. It took some time to realize, and even accept, the fact that my prayer life and the way I live that out will never be the same as it was in college, but by reflecting on the role of a mother at home, I am beginning to discover new ways to evangelize.

I remember hearing a woman talk about a friend’s house she was visiting. She spoke about how beautiful the home was in the sacred sense. Everywhere she looked was a reminder of the Father’s love for her. If her friend’s home could help her know the Father’s love, why couldn’t mine?

As I was watching a show one day in our living room, I noticed that the crucifix on our mantle, below the TV, was pushed off to the side. I thought if Christ is truly the center of my life, He must be the center of my home, too. In a figurative and literal sense, I was placing the things of this world above my relationship with God. So, instead of a TV in the living room, I replaced it with a kneeler, a crucifix, some images of family members who have passed, and a holy water font. Now we are in the process of finding religious art to hang as well.

The way we decorate our home has the potential to transform hearts. Not everyone may necessarily feel called to replace their entertainment space with a prayer space, but when we discover our own ways to let our personal environments reflect our faith life, they become more than stylish or aesthetically pleasing. They become beautiful. Beauty evokes questions that may not otherwise arise in its absence.

After transforming our living room, I have seen a shift in many areas of our family life. Our three-year-old son, Maximilian, will ask questions about the image of the Holy Family in my room, or talk about the images of the saints whom the boys are named after that hang in their room. When he shows interest in these things, it gives my husband and I an opportunity to share with him who those people are and the bold and holy ways they lived for Christ.

One day, while I was watching Maximilian play, without any prompting, he said, “I think I should pray a Hail Mary.” He then walked over to the kneeler, sat down, and started praying. Our one-year-old, Fulton, attempts to make the Sign of the Cross and then kisses the crucifix when we pray our family Rosary. He points to the crucifix and says, “Jesus!”

The very first paragraph of the Catechism begins, “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.” We were made to be holy, and we were made for relationship. The home is precisely where everyone’s journey to holiness and Christ-centered relationships begin. My family and I still don’t have it all figured out, but we also don’t feel like we need to. When we started putting Christ at the center of our home, it was as if we were letting go of our need to know everything, allowing God to show us the way. These simple reminders help us remember to return to Him and help us in our constant pursuit of holiness.

The home is a powerful place because it is where lives are changed and hearts are transformed. As a stay-at-home mom, I may not go out into the world as much as I used to, but I trust that when someone enters into my own little “world,” they are welcomed with open arms and walls that can evangelize their hearts.