contentment, take 2

As a quick follow-up to Monday's post on contentment and such: later that day, Rochelle told me about a new book coming out from Crossway at the end of April on that very subject. She highly recommends it, and I'm excited to read it.

{For those of you who don't know, Crossway is the last company I worked at before I left for a new adventure. I honestly, truly can't say enough good things about Crossway!}

*Also, don't you like those flowers in the picture? They're the survivors from a Valentine's Day bouquet, and they're doing a good job of adding cheer to a dining room table that happens to be covered in receipts, check stubs, and other blah-inducing tax-related items...

make it awesome.

See this?


I've got a giant pile of that, waiting for me.

And this?


This little thing needs my attention, nearly every moment that he's awake.

Most days, my to-do list is a mile long. There are dirty dishes in the sink. Unfinished projects are everywhere. I could be planning trips to Italy... making more money... sheesh, even drinking coffee in silence. Instead, I clean diaper pails, jump at the sound of a little voice wailing through the baby monitor, and scramble to dry my hair before the little guy is totally awake.

STOP.

Rewind, to 18 months ago.

I'm in my very own office {which, at the time, was larger than my bedroom at home!}. A vanilla latte sits on the desk next to me. I'm wearing heels. On my to-do list are words like paint colors, decorate, coffee with friends, shopping, nap, and rest. The sun is shining. I've got friends working in the offices next to mine; I can pop in and say hello whenever I want. I can take leisurely lunch breaks. I can do whatever I want.

And instead...

I'm sitting there, staring out the window, at the bike path that runs past our building. A woman jogs by, pushing a stroller, moving fast. And all I can think is, "I wish I was her."

Yep.

I wanted to be that momma, jogging off down the trail. She probably didn't have a care in the world, beside taking her little darling baby out for some fresh air. Maybe they'd stop off for an ice cream cone, or roll around on the grass in the park. Of course, her baby never cried. She could push that child through any store, and baby would coo with contentment. Life would be grand, if that was me, ponytail bobbing to the beat of my gym shoes, as I pounded away, pushing my baby...

Seriously.

See my point?

You already know I've got a few unresolved issues that need dealing with {*grin*}. But I'm serious here.

Wherever you're at, there are going to be negatives. What's hanging you up?

Too many kids?
No kids at all?
A job that stinks?
Single, wishing you were married?
Married, wishing you were single?
Not enough money?
An apartment, when you'd rather have a house?
An unfinished house?
Old clothes?
Not enough peace and quiet?
Too much to do?

Let it go.

You've only got one shot at today.

Be faithful with what whatever you've got, big or little. Take what you have, and make it awesome. Rock it out. Live your life now.

Because, wherever you think you want to be... by the time you get there, you'll already be looking at the next thing. And the next. And the next.

Contentment is only possible by the grace of God.

So, wherever you're at today...

Be all there.

before and after : stairs

I'm thinking hard about the direction of this little blog, which is why I've been posting so infrequently. In the meantime, here's a "little" project that I tackled at the end of 2010 and never got around to blogging about.

***

Once upon a time, my husband and I bought a dirty cat house. We worked on it hardcore for six months, moved in, and had our baby just two weeks later. At that point, the house was livable, and almost finished... but there were still projects galore, niggling at the back of my mind.

One of them was our staircase.

The kickplates had been painted white before we moved in, but the paint was cheap, watered-down latexy junk, and started peeling off almost instantly... revealing stinky, smelly stained wood underneath. Ick.

Here's the staircase, after I scraped the paint off:

Lovely.

To make this project more challenging, we had already had the flat part of the stairs refinished {that's the nice wood that you see}. Meaning, clumsy, splatter-painter-me would have to be extra careful...

I took a weekend, and painted. And painted. And painted. {Marty should get credit for this job, too. He watched a squirmy baby for almost 48 hours straight so that I could get this done...}

Here are a few more before pictures:



Notice the missing door in this one :)


And, here are the afters:




Much better, right?! {It only took me ten months to get around to it...}

If I keep this pace up, I'll finish my "to-do around the house" list in 3,027 years. Yippee!


{anyone have any tips on mustering up inspiration for finishing unfinished projects? I'd love to hear them! I've got a good one of my own: invite the whole neighborhood over for a Christmas party. It'll get any eye-sore projects in your house finished in no time!}