How to Be Revived

The concept of being revived is essential and a great place to begin our conversations. Bringing something back to life for the home is such a satisfying process, whether it’s a piece of furniture we found by the side of the road, or a family heirloom long forgotten. And God’s hand reviving us is no different; like water to a sun-parched spirit, revival activates us once again, causing us to move forward. Let us begin!

To me, this definition describes going from not doing anything to doing something, to begin, to start, to take that first step. And I think it’s a good starting point on this journey. For someone who is stuck, whether in the home, their personal life, their relationships, or habits—just taking the first tiny step is actually reviving.

In our modern life, with social media and so much perfection, whether it’s in the home or in the spiritual life, we can think, “I’m so far from that, I don’t know where to begin.” But to revive is not necessarily attaining that Instagram perfection, but to take the first step in the direction of what your version of that is. And we don’t talk about that enough; that the beginning is just one small step.

We talk about this a lot when we’re having conversations about forming habits, just trying to get things done around the house like chores and the like, and being revived, and coming back to life again. Sometimes a cool drink of water on a hot day is enough to get us going to the next step.

It doesn’t complete anything, it doesn’t finish anything, but it does get us started. And I love that idea of activation because it is important how we how think about being revived in our homes. As a designer, what do you see as a need for reviving things we already have or our spaces? I know you’ve played around your own spaces lately with how they’re being used, you’ve brought new life back to them, right? Because when something’s not being used, it needs to find new life.

Well, I’m going to borrow from my first church, which was the 12 steps of AA, and I’m going to just borrow my favorite phrase from the whole program, which is “next right action.” And that’s something we’ll get into as we go along. I’ve been in recovery for a long time, but the phrase, “next right action” is something I come back to in every facet of my life when something isn’t working, and  I  feel stuck. It doesn’t say, get to the rearranging of the furniture or make the addition happen or even clean up the whole room, which maybe looks like a bomb hit it. It says, next right action, which, as you said, is sometimes just having a glass of water.

Sometimes it’s calling a friend, sometimes it’s making a list. Actually, even before that, I would say acceptance of whatever the situation is, is a good action to take. Acceptance is the first step as we say in the program! OK, now I need to accept that this is not working. And then what is the action after that?

I know we get very overwhelmed, but the question isn’t “How do I get it done?” It’s really, “What is the first action and then the next right one?” I can’t buy it all today or move it all at once. We have physical and financial limitations. The next right action is sometimes taking a breath and just deciding a change is needed, which seems both monumental and bite-sized, if you will.

I think that breathing new life is also so important in a season after you’ve been through something really dry or even defeating. Death, loss, all those things come to mind when I think of that restart—the whole bringing back to life. I love the idea of just digging into how we can talk about being revived again, especially our spirits.

It is daily bread, after all, right? It is a daily revival. I forget that a lot, too, because I want to arrive and never need to lean on God again or never face my weaknesses again. But that is really our daily struggle. And the beauty of getting older is that you realize that daily dependence is how it works, and it’s OK.

That is the beauty of getting older because we do have that perspective—it really is the journey. It’s not really in the arrival where we can find that beauty.

What about you? Do you feel that desire in your spirit for a revival of sorts? Our prayer is that you will turn to your Bibles, dig in, and just start right there where you are. And if you have a hard time starting, that you’ll simply pray for God to help you begin. (Because He will.) You’re not going to make a mistake. We know the power of God’s Word and we know it will absolutely overflow into your home—and it begins with one small step.

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

Psalm 85:6 NIV

Paige Rien is an author, designer, and HGTV alum whose mission to help readers put their whole selves into their homes. After a career on HGTV’s “Hidden Potential” for five seasons, Paige created a homeowner’s guide to explore and encourage the creative journey that is home making in her first book, Love the House You’re In: 40 Ways to Improve Your Home & Change Your Life. Paige is passionate that work on the home is incredibly important—that our homes can be places of refuge, self-expression, and where we truly matter the most. Work on both her home and the homes of others has been part of Paige’s 20+ year recovery journey. When not watching her four active children play their respective sports, Paige guides and encourages homeowners to create their own personal aesthetic in private design consulting, through live courses and in speaking engagements.

Photograph © mrjn Photography, used with permission