Acceptance with a Side of Turkey

A clean house, pictures hanging on the wall, a creative scrapbook area, and a mantle that tells the story of the family that now occupies this house. I take a step back and breathe in a deep sigh of relief, yes, I have finally come to a place of acceptance!

For the past 4 months, our decorative items, pictures, and carefully constructed scrapbooks have been sitting in boxes. If you came into our home before last Wednesday, you would have assumed we were in the process of moving, not that we had lived there for a while and were settling in. What changed last Wednesday? Company was coming over for Thanksgiving and I had to get everything in order to show the beautiful house that we now call our home. So, I frantically ran around unpacking boxes, throwing away trash, setting out knick knacks and pictures, and showing Tommy where to hang things. Now, I had been telling myself that I hadn't done all of this because I lacked the time... so, did time magically present itself last Wednesday, NO! The truth is, I had been putting off what I didn't want to do. You see, unpacking meant closing a door, and walking through the new one. In other words, casting down vain imaginations that things would return to "normal" and clothing myself in the reality of the new journey.

The truth is, I love our new home, I love being home with Eli, and I love going to school! But the truth also is, that I miss our first home deeply, I miss friends that I used to see all the time, I miss work, and I miss children that are apart of my heart!! But the ultimate wonderful truth is that God is incredible and my wounds are healing! These days, tears are few while smiles abound, I can go places that I couldn't go without twinges of pain, and I can do things that I never imagined possible. ACCEPTANCE is a wonderful thing.

As I took a step back late last Wednesday evening and looked around, I was HOME!! The last thing to be hung on wall was a canvas painted by a precious 4 year old class that I purchased at the auction last year. After I bought it, the sweet teachers signed the canvas and had each child sign it. The canvas is rainbow colored with butterflies to remind of sweet little girl whose name isn't signed and it reads: "Teach them to pray and when they aren't with you they will find their way." ~Laurie Helton
This canvas hangs above my personal scrabooking space, in my favorite room of the house where I also do my quiet time and Bible study... it's a melding of the old and the new... all the things that have happend and all the people that I have met on my journey that make me who I am. This canvas meant a lot to me when I received it but it means even more now becuase it reminds me that I planted seeds of scripture and prayer into the children I served and as I continue to pray for them, I know God is watering those seeds and they will find their way in Him. I find such peace in that!!!

Here are a few pictures of the canvas and the new beautiful space! :) Thanks for reading my thoughts!