A friend invited me and my son over to her house one day in the suburbs of Colorado. We walked into the open living room to find a huge home made swing right there in the middle of that living room. It was attached to the ceiling and was pretty impressive if you ask me. Their youngest son was four at the time and he took that swing and brought it over to the couch and used the couch for a better start.
"Wow!" I said, "You have a swing......in the middle of your living room."
"Well you know how Colorado gets in the middle of winter." She said. There was no apology in her voice. Her tone was more, "putting a swing in the middle of your living room is a no brainer!"
This is a frame of mind that I would love to marinate your mind with all day and night until you are changed by it. What would happen if you used your house instead of protected it. What if your house was a refuge, instead of an investment. What if you were creative with your space and made it enough, instead of moving somewhere larger? What would it mean to make your family more important.....than your house?
What if the kitchen table was your art table, and formal dining room so that the dining room could be?............exactly what you needed?
What if the upstairs bathroom window was the perfect angle for a rubber band sniper war? Would you let your kids open it all the way and let the mosquitos in?....just this once?
What if you don't have enough storage space in your kitchen? You could maybe buy less. Make due with less......Do you know how big a kitchen really needs to be? Big enough for daily bread....
Your house was made for you.......you were not made for your house.......
Yes! I like this and on a good day, my house is full of life and mess and rooms are used for what we need them for not for what would look beautiful in a magazine layout. But on my bad days I worry and I fuss and I snap at kids about how no one ever picks anything up but me. I would LOVE to have a "swing in the middle of my living room" type of home. Time to open my heart to loving and living instead of fussing and tidying. There's a Caedmon's Call song which says, "My cup overfloweth and I worry about the stain." And later, "This house is a good mess. Its the proof of life." Love you Wendy!
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