Part of the Mary Moment Monday series
I had an attack of PoorMe the other day. There was no good reason for it (but, really, is there ever?): I was just not feeling well and was watching a home improvement project take longer than usual (which is, sadly, normal with this place…we always seem to get into more than we bargain for). It was discouraging, somehow, to see two men I love dearly working so hard and coming up against hurdles and complications.
I was facing my own series of challenges in the house, between my temper and my girls. I saw a hole where a wall used to be and wondered how this house would ever be a haven, a place of beauty, a home. My washer had stopped working earlier in the week, and little things that normally don’t phase me were bringing me to my knees.
It was all looking pretty hopeless to me.
Things got better later in the day, and on Sunday, I woke up and, after breakfast and the semi-completion of the project, started thinking in a whole different way about things. What if, I thought, I made our porch entrance into something that would make us smile? What if I made a few small changes (valences on the windows, repainting the floor, moving the freezer to make the area look larger) and did a few small (and, for me, unfamiliar and uncomfortable) decorative improvements?
When I mentioned them to my husband, that Prince Charming who not only puts up with my whims and who keeps our castle livable, he was supportive. He even let me use his tape measure. 🙂 I measured here and I measured there. I made a list and a plan to go to the home improvement store where they must recognize us by now.
And, this morning, after my quiet devotional time, I went out and started the first step of my Pretty Porch Plan. I swept and lugged and battled cobwebs, all to the tune of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I considered how differently I was looking at my entire house in light of this one small project.
Over the last ten years, I’ve come to the conclusion that home ownership is highly overrated. I might protest it, loudly and often, if not for the fact that I love the land that makes up our property, and I see beauty and peace all around me.
And then there’s the thought of what Mary would do. Did she feel ill-equipped in her home? Did she find herself wishing, longing, hoping for more and better? Did she wonder what God had in mind, exactly?
And if so, where did she find the strength to continue to say Yes, to embrace the call to higher work in the ordinary humdrum of her days?
I find her here, with me, in this old farmhouse, and it gives me hope. I need that hope right now. I’m clinging to it.
And I’m looking at color swatches for other areas of the house. 🙂
I know how you feel, though our home is not as old as yours (and, therefore, has different problems).
The idea of making small nooks of loveliness occurred to me after reading Regina Doman’s blog and another one (whose name I’ve forgotten, but is dedicated to home-making). Yup, I want to rip out all of our bathrooms and do them again. I sure do hate the super-cheap drywall that the previous owner used and wish I could redo all of that. I keep thinking about painting. Thinking about it. Not doing it.
But, I have these small pockets of beauty tucked away in different places. A couple of candles near a beautiful picture of Big Girl and her Older Cousin holding a brand-new Little Girl (taken at the hospital). Another spot has a little angel figurine near a picture of my family near the statue of the Blessed Mother and one of Travel Man and I with 6 of our grandparents at our wedding. Still another place finds a vase with silk lilacs providing shade to the Blessed Mother and Baby Jesus.
Now, it works better when I’m decluttering, but still… they are there, and it is a definite nice feeling to suddenly see it again.
But your post now has me thinking about revamping those little pockets. You know how some things become invisible after a while, right? 😉
God bless, Sarah, and I hope your improvement project goes well. ((hugs))
I gave you an award on Friday, sorry I didn’t get to telling you till today! 🙂 And this post was inspiring, it make me think about how I can make my own home beautiful, or at least little parts of it.:)
I don’t know you (perhaps my daughter Robyn Whitlock knows you) – but I found your blog and identified so closely with you in those moments.
My epiphany came when on Christmas Eve, I was up all night holding one of my precious grandsons. Almost everyone visiting had the flu.
I had such big plans for going to my first Christmas Liturgy the next morning. Before long, I realized that wasn’t going to happen – – and I felt so sorry for myself.
Then that still small voice inside my heart said, “what did Mary do on Christmas Eve?” and I began to think. She had a baby and held Him and loved Him all night – – all her life.
When they went to the Temple to dedicate this Child to the Lord, she heard, among other things, that “a sword would pierce her soul.
No wonder “Mary pondered. . .” I need to take time to join my heart with hers to say thank you for what you did “so that the world may know.”