Creating New Space

Without spending gobs of money, I’ve made a few decorating adjustments here and there to the room formerly know as The Library. It’s currently being called Mom’s Prayer Room, or Dad’s Office When Mom Lets Him In. I’m attempting to make it more homey and zen-like. But giving me the go-ahead to decorate is like giving the Mouse the Cookie. One purchase snowballs into another purchase and a bunch of ideas, and I’m never done.

My quest to decorate this room began when a friend, who was moving out of state, gave me one of her beautiful pictures to hang on my wall. With the pretty new art work in place, I began to loathe the sofa. Its throw pillows irritated me because their color was now all wrong. So I bought some new throw pillows whose style made me feel peaceful. So then the sofa looked good, but that made me hate the chair. We can’t buy a new one right now, so I found a cozy white throw to hang over it. That made the chair more tolerable to me. So then the sofa and the chair looked good, but I began to abhor the lamp. I’ve lived with the lamp in this room for the past four years, but suddenly it revolted me to an insane level. It became an eyesore, completely draining my energy every time I entered the room or even thought about it.

Yesterday I headed out to Home Goods, an establishment that is an enemy to our retirement plans. (Whenever I enter that store, I find at least thirty-two items I absolutely have to have that I never knew I needed until that moment. It has all kinds of adorable home accessories in all kinds of colors, and I could stroll around there for hours just looking.) I found a lamp that was perfectly my French Country/Eclectic taste, and I brought it home. It makes my room look so much better. I love it! But now I’m bothered by the side table.....

Spiritual Formation is similar to Interior Design, I’m learning. A sinful pattern I’ve lived with for years suddenly begins to repulse me. It doesn’t feel comfortable anymore with the Me that I want to be. I see it glaring and want it rooted out and replaced with something lovely. So God and I work on that. And then something else begins to nag at me; I recognize that a certain relationship is not a positive influence on me. Or I could make better use of a particular block of time. Or........the list goes on.

The spiritual practices of Silence, Solitude and Prayer, specifically, breathe new life into my soul. God is doing a little interior designing in me, and He has an unlimited budget. I am all for that!