Yep! It is the wee hours of the morning again and here I am. I was wondering why this is happening - me getting awake in the middle of the night and came up with 2 reasons. The 1st is that I am a very light sleeper. Half of me sleeps and the other half listens. I think it is just part of motherhood. First it was the baby stage and getting up at night to tend to their needs and then just moves on into the rest of the stages - you know, like, is that someone throwing up? who just went downstairs? did our teens get home yet? what was that noise? and if you are a mother I sure you can think of other reasons, too. Dave sleeps like a log. He said he can, because he knows that I will hear everything and anything! Lucky guy! =) Well, once I get awake, I have a hard time falling back to sleep and then my mind starts working overtime, which is the 2nd reason. This morning I realized that it is probably the only time in my day that I can really think about things clearly and without all the interruptions of our busy days. It can be a good time of thinking or it can be a bad time of thinking - God can use it as a time for edification or Satan can use it as a time of condemnation. It is up to us which we will allow. I decided this morning to use it as a time for blogging again, and pray that it will be edifying.
This past winter, I experienced weeks of feeling overwhelmed, depressed, unmotivated and a general feeling of "deadness". It was not nice! And, everywhere I looked in this house, I seemed to see clutter and dirt and decided that maybe that was part of my problem. When things are cluttered and out of place, that is exactly how I feel in my mind and something had to change. So, the boys & I set out doing our spring cleaning in the wintertime. We started with bedrooms and worked our way to the downstairs. It was in the middle of cleaning the worst room (schoolroom/laundry/playroom) that I also realized that another part of my problem was that I permitted clutter and dirt to enter into my spiritual house as well. Since then I have been thinking on how we can relate each room of our physical homes to the rooms in our hearts. Over the next few weeks, I would like to share with you the spiritual lessons that can come with spring cleaning.
The first place Dave & I lived in was a small apartment that was part of our landlord's home. It was in the country and close to our jobs and was very affordable, but both of us literally hated living there. There was something spooky about that place and we felt afraid living there. We could not wait to move and after a few months a house my grandpa owned opened up in a nearby small town nd we were able to move there. After living there for about 2 years, we were able to purchase 2 acres of land and put a house trailer on that. Dave & living in town just didn't get along too well, so moving out to the country was good news! In three years, we had built a new home right outside our trailer door. We loved that home! It was where we were building our lives with our 3 oldest children. About 5 years later, we had the opportunity to get into dairy farming, which was always Dave's dream. Neither of us were raised on a farm, but he was a hired man on one in his teen years. He would also do relief milking after we were married, so farming was in his blood. This opportunity we could not pass up. That eventually led us to selling our home and moving to the next county on a rental farm for 5 years. We went from a new home, to a huge old farm house that had leaky windows, poor insulation, and other issues, but we also loved it there. It was our home and we were now building our lives with 6 children. Our lease ran out after 5 years and we decided to try to find a farm with a bigger barn. We were able to purchase a farm back in the area we were originally from and here we are! We went from a big farm house that needed help to a little farmhouse that needed even more help. It still is a work in progress, for everything takes time and money and all farmers know that neither is readily available on a farm. As I was thinking about all the houses we lived in, I realized that we loved all of them, except the first one. They were our little homes, our little oasis in a crazy world. Each house was different, but all had two things in common - our loved ones and our belongings were in that house and that is what made it our "home". So, no matter what your house may look like, it can be your home. A place where you can build your lives together, love each other, work and play together. Webster's definition of house: "a building or part of a building occupied by one family or tenant: dwelling place". Home: "a place where one likes to be; place thought of as the center of one's affections; restful or congenial place". Thank you, Lord, for this dwelling place we call home.
Until next time...............
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