February 28, 2011

Papa's Place

The Backyard

The Bathroom

Papa's Lift Chair

        What a weekend!  Papa's stuff is all moved in thanks to a lot of hard work getting him packed up and into the new place.  Mom supplied his new place with a lot of new comforts and a stocked kitchen. He brought some of his favorite pieces to decorate the place and we all got to work. The kids were good sports for most of the day enjoying the spacious yard while Dad was at school.  Sunday was spent with a couple final touches in the yard and situating his room and clothing.
       This experience, along with a book I read Organized Simplicity and another one I am in the process of finishing, Crazy Love have really helped me to start differentiating between things I love and things I don't.  It always amazes me that even after I clean out closets or kid's rooms a month later things have piled up--again.  It is such a ridiculous cycle and I'm pretty tired of it.  So tired, in fact that my garage is half full of things to yard sale or donate.  I created a list in my phone of things I want to be on the lookout for--real things I have to have...real things I love in order to create the type of home I crave: simple, pretty, and comfortable. 
       It is crazy how much stuff people accumulate and the book Crazy Love has me thinking in a radical way.  Author Francis Chan writes, " Do you realize if you make 4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet?  Which is more messed up--that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich?  Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy."  I'm at a crazy point in my life--I don't want bigger, or better.  I don't want to go shopping for more. I don't want to be doing what everyone else is doing--spending on some other item I don't need or another dinner out that costs money I could be using in a better way.  I just want to be in simple moments with my loved ones--giving and showing my love by my actions.  I don't see what is so crazy about that after all.