cleaning day...

So today I rolled up my sleeves and tore into our bedroom. This is a twice yearly ritual for me, once in the spring, when the weather starts to get sunny, and once in the winter, when it seems that the rain is finally here for awhile. One might ask, why do you do this Lucy? Well, each year, as the weather begins to become sunny, I love to lay in bed on a beautiful sunny weekend and look out the window at the flowers, trees, green grass and blue sky. One of the wonderful things I love most about this little ritual of mine is that my husband, who often gets up before me, opens my blinds for me so that I can see out. I know it seems like a small thing, but to me, it has become this treasured little gift. He knows how much I love to enjoy a gorgeous sunny day and he knows how much it gives me peace and hope for the day. I feel so loved and cared for when I open my eyes to him sliding my blinds up, making it so that I can lay in bed and enjoy the view. It is so precious to me.

I think, even now, in this hustle and bustle world that we live in, we often don't stop to enjoy the little things of a day. I am so guilty of that. I rush around trying to get things done, wanting to accomplish something, but you know what? Lately I find myself stopping, thinking, listening to a song that is playing on the radio and giving myself permission to cry. Or, better yet, stopping what I am doing to go do a scrapbook page, just because the mood or inspiration struck me. That happened to me today. In the middle of all the stuff I was doing, I heard a song that reminded me of our oldest son and I went in, sat down in my little scrapbooking corner, and made a page. I love looking at pictures of him serving his country, making a choice to keep us free. I love him for that. I know it isn't easy.

So I get done scrapping a page and then start refilling picture frames with new pictures and then decide to "scrap the wall" which is so much fun to me! I now have new pictures in our frames and some new "embellishments" on the wall. The new look shows what big things have happened this year in our family. A wedding, a graduation, a vacation to Diamond Lake and to Florida, a trip to Iraq, adding a new "son"...all the good things that make a family a, well, a family.

Here I sit, looking into my clean, rearranged bedroom and I am looking forward to sleeping in it. It is dust free, swept, mopped, and feels and smells so wonderfully fresh! God is so good!