1,000 Gifts: #41-60

We talk of little else except where the furniture will go, whether to order cable or Direct TV, the stuff we still can't find, what we forgot to get at the store and how glad we are to finally be in a new place.

I want to get to the accessorizing phase but there is still work to do, still boxes to unpack.

I want to meet the neighbors, host a play date, plan a tea party, stamp all my books with "This book belongs to:" so I can start loaning out my favorites.

But the craft room needs organizing. Artwork needs hanging. Toys need bins and cosmetics need baskets and clothes need washing and dishes need homes.

I want to make a difference in this community. I want to impact lives. I want our family's presence in this neighborhood to be felt.

But I must wait.

So far, we're just "the people who finally moved in to that rental." No one here knows us. No one has come to visit. I feel guilty, that I haven't "done anything" yet.

But I feel the familiar whisper, that whisper to a woman who is a border-line legalist, who likes to-do lists and rules, who doesn't feel like she's earning her keep in this world unless she's working and working and striving and striving.

He says, "It's ok to unpack. It's ok to nest. Take your time. Make your home the haven on your dreams. Make it your own. Make it wonderful. Your mission can wait."

Sometimes it's my husband's voice saying, "Would you just relax??" My mother asked me last night, "Have you even sat on your new couch yet?" No. I've barely sat down at all.

One of the goals of this whole move was for me to stop DOING so much. Yet all I want to do is DO. I have to work at not doing all the time.

So I'm nesting now. I'm rearranging and beautifying and making this place feel like I actually live here. And just doing that, for now, is enough.

41:: Pirate Andrew, third in line for face painting.



42:: enjoying an afternoon with my son without being behind a camera the whole time.

43:: attending a lavish birthday party.

44:: a new fall wreath, after I'd just hung te empty hanger on the door the day before and wondered what I'd put there.

45:: knowing God is real. Really knowing.

46:: chocolate cake, homemade by my mom.

47:: feeling "lighter" at church.

48:: fantastic worship.

49:: people who are genuinely interested in how I'm doing.

50:: getting the date wrong for a party and it working out for the better.

51:: Reading "Good Girls don't Have to Dress Bad" by Shari Braendel in one morning in my new Morning Room.

52:: resolving to stop apologizing for wanting to look fashionable and amazing.

52:: making a hair appointment with a new gal.

53:: looking out at my tree-lined street from the laptop.

54:: boys wrestling on the bed.

55:: leftovers from On The Border.

56:: sweet iced tea.

57:: Saturday McDonald's breakfast with my boys.

58:: being a minority sometimes.

59:: buying beer for my dad.

60:: Andrew's love of birthday parties.

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