I recently read a book where the author was sharing her experience of moving the family from what was their “white picket fence” home to a practically dilapidated one. It was met with a lot of anger from her teenage sons.
She had torn them from the comforts of their home, friends and a familiar neighbor to the middle of nowhere. They were living in a house that could have almost been condemned.
Then they decided to tear the whole thing down and build new. While they did that, they had to live with the grandparents for several months. Eventually they were able to move into their new home.
In the book she said something really profound, “Home can be anyplace in which we create our own sense of rest and peace as we tend to the spaces in which we eat and sleep and play. It is a place that we create, and re-create in every moment, at every stage of our lives, a place where the plain and common becomes cherished and the ordinary becomes sacred.” (“The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir” by Katrina Kenison).
It got me thinking about what makes a home. Is it the white picket fence that surrounds it? Is it having a two-car garage? Is it being so large you could entertain the entire neighborhood?
Or is it really what you make of it? You could be living in a cramped apartment, a bungalow, or a tent…what you create out of it is what truly makes it a home.
There are times we have to make the most of what we have. It may be living in less than ideal conditions, living amidst dust as you redo a room or in the midst of packing and unpacking as you move from one place to the next.
I am reminded of the time we redid our kitchen. What a mess. We had dust everywhere, most of the kitchen items in our dining room, had no room to move and it was very difficult to cook.
I created an unpleasant atmosphere. I was so crabby about the whole thing that we couldn’t even enjoy the process of recreating our kitchen.
So I am reminded that the conditions don’t have to dictate my mood. In the future, whenever we are ready to move, the packing won’t have to set the atmosphere, nor the unpacking. In the midst of the chaos, in the space that I have, I can create memories.
What memories are you creating in your home? Where is your focus? Are you making the most of what you have?
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The Importance of Taking Care of Your Home
When Someone’s Best Isn’t Good Enough
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