Thoughts on Things

Thoughts on Things

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:3

I get a happy feeling when I declutter. A feeling like no other (except perhaps when I write). It starts in my toes and goes all the way to my heart where it flutters and buzzes. I love to tidy. 🙂

Yes. I know I am fully a nerd that way. But as I embark on a little business to help others declutter, I have been pondering my philosophy of order. Why do I love it so much?
I think I have discovered the reason.

The home is our own special kingdom, a sacred place we get to manage. Whether a mansion, hut, or rented studio room, God gives us our own “plot of earth” to steward. What delight, what joy, what training can come as we put our hands to this gladsome task! Toddlers may conspire, dust and grime encroach- but still what a joy that we have a plot! As children of a King, who has a kingdom, I believe there is an innate desire in us to have domain, to rule a place. And the first and happiest place we get to rule? Our own space.

And ruling our space well brings many happy results.

If we want lives we love, then, as much as it depends on us, only have those things we love in our lives. Perhaps we can’t donate our annoyingly loud neighbor to the Goodwill or fix every messy situation, but we can push back on the crush of stuff in our homes. And that can bring peace and control in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Being tidy and having uncluttered space empowers us to move through the other rooms of our lives with confidence. We learn discernment both in the choice of our physical things and in the choice of our lives’ work. We don’t need to pay a seminar fee or attend a conference to learn these lessons. All this training can take place in our own home.
What joy!

We aren’t perfect (can anyone say yard work?!!), but every day we get better. We get better at home.

A Mother’s Love

Mother's Love

A spouse’s love is the Most Sacred of loves, going so far as to be the picture of Christ’s love for us. But a mother’s love is the Most Natural of loves, flowing freely. Aboundingly. Intrinsically. To mother is to love. You can’t separate the two. How do I know this? Because I know my mother’s love…and because I am now a mother.

I know things get broken in our world- including hearts, homes, and relationships.
Not everyone knows a mother’s love. 
I know that mothers get tired and cross and lost and yell.
Not every mother feels like they are good at loving. 

But the truth is that God can heal broken mothers.
And God can heal through broken mothers.
In a line where hurt mothers hurt mothers, running through the generations, God can change the course and set mothers free. Free to be His kind of mothers.
How do I know this? Because I’ve seen God do it in my mother… and because I’ve seen Him do it in me.

And that’s why I can fully say, “Mom, you are like home to me.” When we’re laughing, chatting, cooking, shopping, Call-the-Midwife-marathoning, commiserating, living– I feel at home when I’m with you.

For nine months you were my residence, but you will always be like home.
I thank God for this great gift.
I love you. 🙂

My Mom and Me

The Laundry

The Laundry
The hamper is never empty
Because our lives are always full.

Full.

The grass streaks = playing at the park
The milk spit-up= sweet baby snuggles
The grease stains= how hard he works for us
The chocolate drips= yummy ice-cream dribbling down her chin
The spaghetti sauce= squeals of delight while squishing noodles

I plan and strategize and map out ways.
Ways to empty that hamper.

But they never fully work.
The clothes pile up like breeding bunnies-
Beyond belief before my eyes.

I sigh.
I groan.
And kick that hamper.

But then…I remember.

The hamper is never empty
Because our lives are so blessedly full.

Lately

Hello Friends.

It has been quite a while. 🙂

Between this toddler chasing (see Exhibit A)

Exhibit A

Exhibit A

and this baby birthing (see Exhibit B)

Exhibit B

Exhibit B

I haven’t had time to sleep. Yet alone write.

But I have missed you. Greatly.

All of this hullabaloo hasn’t dampened my love of words, of passion, of living a fixed-gaze life. Rather, my focus has been refined, further and further.

Lately?

I still love my golden-haired guy. He is my rock and sacred joy. I love laughing with him when all we want to do is yell because the toddler threw rice all over the floor again and the baby is crying forever.

I adore my exuberant toddler. She is so curious and so sweet and so joyful- she makes my heart sing.

I am swooningly in love with my new rosy, plump, delicious baby. She is as perfect as a babydoll.

I love my friends- and those who will one day be my friends. (Kindred spirits are hidden everywhere, you know.) In fact, I love them even more than ever in these whirlwind days of babies all around. They bring color and sanity and gladness to my days. I adore them.

I love life. There are so many wonderful things in this world. Sunshine on water, bird calls through my window, the joy of cleaning out clutter, the satisfaction of a good book, the rapture of a gorgeously-shot film, a strong body, hopeful plans. So much to partake.

The Beautiful Life

And I love Jesus. More than ever. More each moment. The last year has been hard and deep. At times almost, almost, too hard and too deep. But He has always been here. And He has made me strong. How? By constantly holding me up. Forever I am grateful, forever I am His.

So that’s where I’ve been.

I’d love to hear where you’ve been lately.

And I can’t wait to see where we’ll go next.

Until then.

E

On the Run

Mountains
“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (
New King James Version, James 4:14b)

A rushed life. A hectic life. Busy, dizzy, blaring. Intoxicating, nauseating.

Why do we live such roaring lives? Why fear the quiet, the halt?

Is it because we are running away?

A blank calendar leaves us space to recall we only have so many days. A turned-off screen brings us back to reality where we’re finite and frail.

So tiny in the scheme of things. So little in the light of eternity.

It’s terrifying really. Here we are, fantastically intelligent creatures, housed in magnificently-tuned bodies, plopped in the middle of a glorious planet, swirling in an endless sea of universe.

How can we be so magnificent yet so fragile, our lives ever hanging in the balance?

Distraction shushes our terror.

And yet.

And yet what if there is something better? Something better than this sickening distraction?

What if we are called to fully uncover our weakness- to fill our eyes, fill our souls with the nakedness and the glory of our existence?

Our souls are bare before God. How far we fall from His perfect standard. We are an almost invisible vapor; He is the immortal Matter of all matters. Seeing our bankruptcy on every account causes us to run to Him. He is the deep well we must draw, He is the eternal life we must have. If only we let Him, He takes away our shame; He removes our failings; and He covers us.

We can face our finiteness and our frailty- because He is strong. We can face our weakness- because He is good. And we can face our smallness- because it means we fit in His hand.

No need to run anymore.