making room

Friday afternoon when I came home, I decided to start on Baby H's room. "Decorating already?" you may ask. Nope, not decorating! The room we intend to be Baby's room has been our storage room for two years. Storage. Which, in my world, usually means, "I have no idea where to put this. Throw it in that room and shut the door so I don't have to think about it." 

Old clothes, winter clothes, hubby's hunting clothes, our luggage, keepsakes, pictures, books, tools, extra furniture, kitchen supplies, Christmas decorations, and old TV, workout equipment that I (intend to) use - and a partridge in a stinking pear tree. 

My first task was to pull everything out of the room to see what was actually in there. And I thought, "It's just one room. I could probably finish this before Webb gets home this evening." 

Yeah. I thought I could handle this... 

...and more, in three hours. 

What I hadn't thought about was the fact that everything in that room had something to do with every. other. room. in our house. And what began with "organizing a room," turned into, "rearranging every room, closet, nook, and cranny in our home". 

But! The final result made my heart smile with anticipation...

(Sorry about the graininess - it's a panorama that didn't go quite as planned.)

I've decided to do Baby's room in all neutrals. White crib, gray bedding, white dresser, pale walls.

Webb's and my life is fast-paced, on the run, and at times we bear some stress from the (most-of-the-time beautiful) work the Lord has called us to. (I know none of you has met an overwhelmed pastor, right?) Well, with that being the case, I try to make every part of our home a peaceful place. I don't bring a laptop or iPad in the bedroom to work. We try to cover our home with prayer and serenity. And I wanted that same feeling in Baby's room. He or she will have plenty of noise and color every other moment of the day. I hope this nursery will be a place of true peace for them. 

The chaos that ensued in our home after I tore that room apart reminded me of a spiritual truth. 

Often, we close the door to a certain part of our hearts; we're reluctant to let Jesus work in there. We know each thing He puts His finger on will lead to some other part of our hearts we need to release to Him. If He points out our problem of offense, we will most likely be led to confront our pride. If He shows us our unwillingness to give, we will likely have to confront our fear of poverty - our ultimate distrust of Him. Let Him expose our dislike for a person; He'll often lead us to that same trait in ourselves. 

But that is true discipleship - nothing withheld, no door locked, no part of us unscathed by His purifying fire. 

Open the door, today. Let Him start the cleaning out process you may have been avoiding. 

The peace and beauty to follow will be worth it. 

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We have one week until we (hopefully!) will find out if Baby H is a lady or a gentleman! We are so excited - can't wait to share the news with you.