The Process

In this DIY age you can find ideas and inspiration pretty much anywhere you look. Online, magazines, books, tv shows- endless sources of thought provoking material. Some of my favorite places to go are antique stores, the ones off the beaten path, in unexpected places and usually full of wonderful things. At antique stores you will find artful vendor booths full of charming ideas that will send you into creative overdrive.

Then I come home and see all these blank canvases i.e. walls, furniture etc. that I need to do something to, even though I just painted my entire interior only 2 years ago. Thats not that long, people. And I have a vaulted ceiling in my living room which means that I have to stand on the top [Note: not the top rung, but the TOP] of the ladder which is very scary. The last time I did this it took me a solid 10 minutes of crouching on the top of the ladder before I summoned the courage to stand up. It took another 10 minutes before I could move my arm to paint. I almost didn't make it down, I almost had to call the fire department. It would have been embarrassing, but there is something about heights that cause me to freeze, lock up and renders me immobile. In spite of all this, I have plans to repaint almost everything, starting with the hall bath.

I came across some really great fabric that has become a new shower curtain for the hallbath that serves as guest bath and the kid's bath. The new shower curtain begat new paint. And the new paint will inevitably beget something cute and crafty for the walls thanks to the myriads of inspiration sources.

Prior to starting this project I told myself that I wasn't going to rush the process as I usually do. Normally I start something and rush as fast as I can because I can't wait to see how it turns out. This time, inspired by a friend who seems to live in a halo of calm assurance, I have done my work thoroughly and thoughtfully, neatly and well, and have found the process to be so much better this way. As much as I hate the process, doing it well and right makes all the difference at the end.

In the same way, I feel like I spend my days rushing through the process of raising my kids. If there is anytime to move slowly and thoughtfully and with a halo of calm assurance, it's this time when I am moulding minds and shaping characters. To miss a step in the process, to rush through it and not do it well could result in a lifetime of sorrow. I want to slow down, take each step carefully and get it right.

It must be so frustrating to the Lord sometimes to see me down here, failing and falling so often and stumbling along as if I have no Guide. But thank heaven He is slow and careful, taking the process a step at a time, loving me each step of the way. A halo of calm assurance.

{Phil. 1:6 And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.}

Ps. Friend, who I referred to, thank you! You inspire me to be a better person. You spark my creativity. You mean a lot to me!