Worship

In church Sunday I was challenged to think about worship.

Where do I spend most of my time?

In my home, taking care of my house and children.

This is my calling. I do this because I love Jesus and this is the job he’s given me. My little ones are my primary “mission field” right now. And I love it.

But it’s easy to begin to worship the calling instead of the Caller, the home instead of the Door, the family instead of the Father.

If all this were stripped away, would I still be happy? If my calling changed, could I give this up? What happens when surroundings change and the nest is empty? Am I empty too?

Has it become The Most Important Thing, the thing I worship? Or have I reserved that place for God?

Things to ponder.

Functional Beauty

lovely picture from sweet paige at simple thoughts

As I’ve collected inspiration pictures, I noticed that every living room picture I loved had white furniture. I mean EVERY one.

I know people talk about how easy white is, you just throw it in the wash.

I wasn’t convinced. I could just envision pricey white slipcovers, stained in a week.

I tried an experiment to see if I was mistaken. At the little camp we own (just a teeny cabin—our dry spot) I covered the futons with white sheets.

again, from paige

Nope. We are only there a few weeks out of the year, and after a couple visits they already sport evidence of art projects, contraband snacks, and brightly colored play-dough. I wash them several times a week when we are there. Five rowdy children will do that, I guess!

Still. I adore white and as I slowly decorate our home, I try to incorporate it in other ways.

But in spite of my dreams of white couches, I’m learning to love more family-friendly ways of decorating too. (If your family can sustain white furniture, then bless you. Mine can’t!) When I looked at this picture…

I thought…I really love our living room! Although it’s not very evident, my patterned couch and jewel-toned books are in the background. It’s warm and cozy. And there are touches of the white I love.

In my last post, I talked about what I wanted to get out of blogging. If I collect any readers, here is the encouragement I want to share, the gift I want to give to you…You can have a lovely home in spite of a houseful of little rowdies! We don’t all have to have few/grown/perfectly trained children to surround ourselves with beauty!

My kids are a work in progress, just like my home. It’s far more important that I invest in my relationships with them than worry about a stain on a white slipcover.

My house is a long, long way from being the way I want it. And although it’s the perfect size for our family and very functional, it’s as ugly as all get out on the outside and some of the inside. Lots of blog fodder, I hope?

So I hope you will join me as I create a nest for my family, in a way that’s most helpful and encouraging to them.

May you be encouraged too!

Blogging as a Homemaking Tool

I had a home blog for years, first at Blogger, then Wordpress. Then I reached a point where I just couldn’t do it and I closed my blog. Now I feel I “need” it again. Not need as in it’s some necessity of life, but I find an artistic outlet very helpful. A blog helps me to see my home through the eyes of others, thus helping me to make it more appealing to my family. It gives me an extra boost to tackle those household projects I’ve been trying to get to. And it reminds me to value beauty in my home.

Christians talk about calling or vocation, basically the idea that God has destined for them to fulfill a particular role. My calling right now is wife, mother, and homemaker. (I know this isn’t everyone’s calling, so don’t misunderstand. We all don’t fit into the same mold, and that’s a good thing.)

I weighed whether or not I have the time to take, upload, and edit pictures (to my limited ability), to write posts and manage comments. Blogging can take over one’s life, and I certainly don’t want to fritter my days away before a glowing screen, living through an “outlet” or vicariously through the artful lives of others. But ultimately, at this time, I think blogging will be a valuable tool in my quest to be a more creative homemaker.

The world doesn't need another homemaking blog, but I need the discipline of blogging!

Hydrangeas in Summer

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower. Until last year, I've never successfully grown them though. Probably because I procrastinated planting them until they were dead. My sweet family put this one in the ground for me, and it thrived. I was so excited when I saw the gorgeous blossoms the other day.

Then I went out to take some pictures and saw that heat and dry weather had almost gotten the best of my beautiful hydrangea! I hope I got it watered in time.

I know you aren't supposed to cut them until the third or fourth year, but I cheated and snipped just a few blossoms. There's not much I enjoy more than fresh flowers in the house.

Especially fresh flowers in milk glass. Beautiful!