Friday, April 8, 2011

Home Life

 I think today winter finally realized what spring was trying to do, and decided to give her a run for her money.  For nearly the first day this week, it's grey and coldish again.  The wind has been blowing all day and in general, it's not the most cheerful day outside.  However, inside, it's cozy and nice, and I don't even mind that I can't see the sun. I've had such a nice week, and it was good to stay inside today, doing some things that I haven't done in a while, writing on my blog being one of them!


 Ian and I checking out the library. It's only a ten minute walk from our house and packed with wonderful books!  I adore libraries!
  
This made me smile when I saw them together on the couch. :)


Last week, I walked to the closest Starbucks with Ian.  It's only about a 25 minute walk, which is the perfect length when the weather's not freezing! :)  

Baskets!

One of my favorite things to do is organize.  I find especially now that the weather is turning into spring, there's an insatiable urge to tidy up, minimize and organize everything around me.  I love it when everything is efficient and streamlined, but equally important to me, is that things looks beautiful and welcoming.  I would never want to trade in a beautiful home for an organized one.  And I'm convinced you don't have too!
As you can see, one of my favorite things to use for organizing is baskets.  I have a lot of them, different shapes and sizes, and I use them whenever possible!  If something needs to be out in the open, easily accessible, I like to put it in a basket.  For instance:
 Blankets
Current projects I'm working on
 
 Ian's toys
 Library books
Other books I'm reading, magazines, borrowed books.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Contentment

I have to admit, I've had this mental block when it comes to the word contentment.  I know it's a good thing.  Something we should all be working towards.  And yet something inside me rebels at the thought.
For a long time, when people talked about contentment, I got this mental picture of someone who wasn't going anywhere.  Someone with no ambition, with no drive, no real purpose in life.  Someone who wasn't interested in learning or growing or improving, someone who was content - and in my mind, stagnant.
The concept terrified me.  I heard that unless you were content and satisfied where you were, you would be unhappy everywhere else.  I didn't want that.  But neither did I want to be stagnant, going nowhere.
Finally, a different picture is beginning to be revealed to me.  What true contentment really is.  It's about gratefulness.  And patience.  Being satisfied where you are, while looking ahead to the future, constantly seeking what God has for you.
There are times and seasons for everything, and if one is constantly yearning for the next season, it's a sure way to miss the beauty and potential growth that are in this one.
I've struggled with this for years, and I feel like I'm finally getting it.  In many ways, I feel like I've wasted so many years already, wishing I was in another  season, wanting my circumstances to be different, instead of making the most of my time where I was.  But now that the truth is beginning to be clear to me, I don't want to waste the next several years with regret.
God has given each of us so much!  There is so much potential packed into every person, and yet how much of it is wasted because we're wishing we were somewhere else?

Friday, April 1, 2011

This is Spring!

 
(flowers that Stephen gave me on a day that was looking particularly grey....they cheer me up every time I look at them!!)

My favorite season has always been autumn.  But this year, I think it's spring. :)  It's been winter so long that I've begun to sympathize with the Narnians.  But in  the last few days, I've woken up, and it's been Spring!  Suddenly the days are longer, I'm waking up to light, instead of dark, and the sun is shining!  
I was washing dishes this morning and could hardly keep myself inside to finish up before grabbing Ian and rushing out for a walk in the glorious sunshine and melting snow!
I've felt such a dullness lately, such a lack of inspiration, especially for writing.  I admit, I was having difficulty with being grateful for things, and the saying "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," was hammered so well into my head, that for a long time, I didn't feel like doing any writing. No journalling, blogging or anything of the sort!
But it's different now.  Somehow one or two days of sunshine can change so much!  There are so many things to be grateful for!  There always are, sometimes you just have to look harder, and be grateful for the tiny blessings that come your way every day.


(one of the biggest blessings in my life - my sweet, happy baby boy, I pretty much adore him! :)

Today I got to go to the library, a treat I haven't enjoyed in months!  It was wonderful to go for a walk, and find one of my favorite places only fifteen minutes away!  It's definitely going to be one of those places I visit frequently!  Ian even enjoyed it!  He was so good, sitting at my feet while I perused a couple of books I had selected for the time I was there.  Going to the library as a child was always such a fun time for me, and I'm so excited about making it the same way for Ian!
What are some of your favorite places to go?