My apartment has some other quirky decorations. Right above that couch is a beautiful clock, and it doesn't really match the couch. All around the ceiling is green Christmas garland left over from my wedding decorations. I count seven different shades of wood on as many other pieces of furniture (more than half of those pieces are bookcases - some six feet tall, one is only about three and a half feet). My kitchen is in the shared laundry room across the hall - ok, it's not a kitchen, but I leave my toaster oven and crockpot there.
I'm not telling you this because I want you to feel sorry for me. As I'm sitting on my queen sized bed (with a king sized blanket) I'm smiling. I love my home!
Why? Because this is the home God provided for me and Stephen. Most of our furniture was given to us, and looking at my wedding decorations always makes me think about my wonderful wedding and the people God has put in my life that made my wedding possible.
With all of that, there's a lot around me to make me feel inadequate. My favorite place to go hang out while Stephen and I were dating was IKEA. Everything there is beautiful, new, and matching. Nothing has been pre-loved.
Then I look at Facebook. I see cooking videos I cannot make with what I have right now (although I have tried some of them). I see lots of women my age, or younger, having babies. It makes me feel like something is wrong with me because I "waited" so long to get married. Then I look around my home again, and realize there is no room for a crib, so we're all good for now. 😉
Everywhere around me, I can see life from two different perspectives. The one that makes me feel like I am loved by God and the people around me. And the perspective that tells me I don't know how to love myself enough.
Does that seem like a leap to you? I'm not saying that having matching furniture or babies is a bad thing (trust me, I LOVE the cute pictures). But why? Changing my status in life is only a good thing when it is to continue to fulfill God's call on my life in His timing. If the changes are brought about to fulfill my own desires, or to make my life look better or more Facebook worthy, or to bring me more in step with my peers, these are not coming from God! This is wrong! Don't believe me? Look at 1 John 2:16.
Ladies, you don't have to have mismatched furniture or live in a hobbit hole to be spiritual. But you also don't have to follow a diet, have a birthing plan, or decorate your home based on a Pinterest color palette. Love God first, love others next, and smile at your perfect little home and life. It'll probably change when you're not looking.
Because of Him,
Missa
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| My husband and I in our beat up '95 Buick leaving on our honeymoon :) |
