Decorating my soul

Now my challenge...

I've really been enjoying fixing up the house the past few months! It's fun to have an older house, a lot of old furniture, and the challenge of creating beauty with little cash to do it. It's such a rewarding feeling to make a room feel happy while not having spent a single penny on it! Of course some of these projects have cost a few dollars, a 97 cent can of spray paint or a $2 case of upholstery (man, I'm glad I have auto spell check) tacks. I sit in my house with my eyes scanning for what project I can start next, even at midnight!

But I know in my heart that the project I need to be working hardest on is "decorating" my soul. I've got to get to bed at night so I can get up in the morning with my alarm (my first week of alarm in oh, about 5 years! something about being a stay home mom and waking with an alarm just don't sit well! but much needed, yes). I've got to get up before the kids so I can spend some time decorating my soul in prayer with my sweet Jesus. I need to decorate it by spending that quality time at the breakfast table with the girls and rocking my precious baby for his first nap. I've got to decorate it by my commitment to homeschooling Mary Clare each day, helping her see the beauty of God's creation around her and the gift of her mind and intelligence. I need to decorate my soul through little acts of kindness and sacrifice throughout the day. I should decorate it by talking to the girls about God in those little moments where they find a caterpillar, fight with a friend, or pray the blessing at lunchtime.

Having a clean, orderly, and pleasant-in-appearance home will help my soul be lifted to God, no doubt. But I must be sure that it's being lifted to him more often than lifted to my own devices, my own imagination, my own pride at work well done. So let's see if I can decorate my soul today, along with my home, and help these precious little souls entrusted to me to have the most decorated souls of all...because that's my vocation after all.