it took me a long time to LOVE my house. for a few years i wanted to change so many things about it... i would walk through each room and think about what i would do to that room in the future. how i would make it “perfect” and how once it was “perfect” i would start to have huge fun parties in my “perfect” house...
the series of not so big house books by sarah susanka (and the knowledge that we really do live in a HUGE house compared to the rest of the world) helped me a lot to overcome that “perfectionism” trap with my house. and to love it as is. and to use it as is. and to be creative with every square inch. and to fill it with friends, food, and fun. even if everyone had to crowd around and step on each other’s toes. it just meant it was filled with friend, food, fun, foot stomping and forgiveness.
i especially love my “not so big” house when it is time to clean it. as opposed to our previous larger (and multi-leveled) home (in dacula, ga) this house is a BREEZE to clean. no carpet adds to that ease. also because it is smaller and the rooms are smaller, clutter builds up FAST and so we (and we is sometimes just ME) declutter(s) daily and that makes cleaning much easier. no garage or attic means little storage. we keep only what is really important. for example when it comes to decor for Christmas... i get 2 large bins. that is it. ornaments and a few other decor items. easy to put out, easy to put back up. as i tell my children, limits= more creativity. in life. and in your home. and i have to tell myself that ALL of the time. especially at the end of the month (or as i and all my dave ramsey friends like to call it... “where did all my money go and how can we eat all week on the last $5.00 in my cash envelope and some change i found in the car?”)
donald miller’s blog post today reminded me of how to give my home and my stuff meaning...
here are some of the parts of his post that really resonated with me...
I don’t have a ranch. In fact, I only have a small condo. But I don’t want it to be a place just for me. I want the stuff in the condo and the food in the pantry and the furniture in the guest room to be for others. I’ve been able to do a little of that in the last year, convert my home into an imitation of God’s place, and in so doing, I’ve discovered a little secret my friend with the ranch must have discovered a long time ago: Managing God’s stuff for the enjoyment and comfort of the people God loves is a blast. It gives meaning to your things, and a feeling of importance to the places you get to live within...
...How much better would our homes feel if the living room were the place where that pastor and his family from Eastern Europe came and shared a meal and interacted with our neighbors, or the yard was the place where the soccer team from the school across the street had their barbecue? Our homes would be charged with meaning and character and, well, life! Our entertainment center wasn’t designed so we could watch movies, but so neighbors could come together and watch football while we serve them hamburgers. What if we managed our homes like little meeting places God used to bring people together?
and then in the comments was this poem that i had read before and had printed up once and on our fridge (perhaps i will laminate it for the bathroom poetry collection...)
The House by the Side of the Road
by Sam Walter Foss
There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by;
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban;
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears
Both parts of an infinite plan;
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by;
They are good, they are bad, they are weak,
They are strong,
Wise, foolish – so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
Or hurl the cynic’s ban? -
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
and this was my quote of the day from values.com...
“The doors we open and close each day
decide the lives we live.”
Flora Whittemore
and i cut this quote out of a magazine today...
“there are only two distinct classes of people on this earth:
those who espouse enthusiasm
and those who despise it.”
germaine de stael
and so that just all made me thankful for my house. for our many friends that fill it. and continue to step on each other’s toes and keep on coming. and it made me thankful that the weather is nicer now and we can start to have dinners out on the patio (or as ashlyn named it for us... the PARTYo).
and i plan to throw my own birthday party there next friday night. smoked turkey breasts, pumpkin cupcakes, and most likely a corn dish (for rosie our corn-aholic). good times. good food. small house by the side of the road.