Last Wednesday, we had another really exciting book chat meeting for Jamie Erickson's Holy Hygge book, and I have to say, I enjoyed it thoroughly! I pray everyone in attendance was able to hear the Holy Spirit speak and received blessings from the two chapters we studied.
It's really interesting how this little book can be both light but also insightful.
One of my favorite parts of the evening was when the question was asked about purchases that might have been mistakes. I shared one of mine in great detail...but I have many others that popped into my mind as I was thinking about this topic. What can I say, I like to shop. And among my favorite shopping experiences are those that involve something for the house. I get these ideas in my head about how a certain corner or wall in our house would look so much better if only I could get X thing to make it perfect. I hardly ever have money, so often, I end up just buying a very cheap version of what I had in mind, just so my vision would come into reality. And many times, I end up regretting the purchase and having to either return it or donate it.
I could share many examples. This practice frustrates my dear husband very much...especially, because, usually, I buy the items without telling him. He is too nice to fight me on them. But, recently, he did tell me that he is tired of me buying things that later end up in the Goodwill box. He said I have to learn the art of waiting: waiting until we save up the money to buy a quality item (or until I forget my idea and desist...which I know would be his prefered option).
Sometimes, the purchase is too big, and I have to live with the mistake for a long time... Sometimes, it's worse: others have to live with it for a long time. The particular example I'm thinking about was Dylan's bed. It was shortly after we moved to Slippery Rock. He was going to get his own room, and I wanted to make it special by getting him a new bed. My vision involved one of those beds that were kind of like a loft, sitting up high so we could put a desk underneath or a reading nook or something really cool. I've seen an IKEA room decorated just the way I wanted it, and if I could just have bought that showroom right the way it was, I ... I mean...Dylan would have been the happiest kid alive!
Of course, we didn't have money for buying a full IKEA bedroom set, completed with cool storage and wall art. So, I went to the Walmart website instead. In there, I found what looked like a good compromise. It wasn't a loft bed, though. It was more like a bunk bed. The top was a twin size and the bottom was a full size bed that turned into a couch. How cool is that! right? Well, the nightmare began when the box arrived. It weighted a TON. Poor Dan. He wanted to put it together right away so Dylan could have a bed. When we finally got the extremely heavy boxes upstairs, Dan opened them only to realize that there were about 10,000 pieces. OK, I am exaggerating. It was more like 2,000. I couldn't believe it! Then, of course, it took several nights of Dan working on the stupid bed after work, and several mistakes, before the bed was ready to be used. By then, Dylan had been sleeping on the floor in Grant's room for maybe 2 weeks.
Finally, there it was, the bed was up, the kids tried it, and were excited for about a minute. It was so uncomfortable...it was like sleeping on a bed of nails. I tried adding more padding to the mattress, and fluffy pillows and comforters...but nothing worked. The good thing is that Dylan was still young...but the bad thing was that Dylan was still young. There was NO WAY on this side of Heaven that Dan would even let me talk about getting rid of the bed. That bed was in that room to stay. Dylan actually slept in the guest room for a couple of years, until he decided to brave his bed again.
9 years later, Dylan figured enough time had passed, so he ask for a new bed for Christmas, and this past year Dan said yes. But then, the terrible realization of having to put the monster apart came over him...but...the good news was, we listed it for sale on the Facebook Marketplace and the stupid bed sold in a couple of hours! That was enough motivation for Dan to get his screwdriver and disassemble the 2,000 parts. He was nice enough to take pictures and organize all the parts very neatly so the new owners would be able to put it back together again without much trouble.
Dylan got his IKEA bed (not a loft, but a cool one, nonetheless) and I began to learn my lesson: stop being restless and wait in the Lord.
It's funny how today at church, Pastor Dan gave an amazing sermon that touched on certain aspects that apply to this situation. He was preaching on Psalm 84 and on how we have a home like no other. I can stop striving for something better. There is no need. I already have my perfect home in Him. Creating an atmosphere of peace where there is enough space for Jesus and where there is room for the gospel to be shared is what I need. Other than that, it becomes superfluous and actually dangerous. I don't need to keep up with the latest trends on HGTV. All I need is to remember that,
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