So we are supposed to write about not having perfect homes. That is almost too easy to write about. Now I admit I do try to pick up and put "my best foot forward". The Mommy Monster does show up when the kitchen has exploded for several days and the dust bunnies are large enough for saddles! But for several years now I have told people that my gift is hospitality, not entertaining. I realized if I stressed out and wanted my house "perfect" before inviting anyone 1) I wouldn't enjoy the company when they came and 2) I would never have anyone over. Life is much more fun when you share it with people.
I also come from a long line of "starters". I am very good at starting projects and getting them "mostly done", but then seem to move on before it is completely done. I am working on that and with God's help I have actually completed a few projects around the house, but there is still a constant stream of unfinished items around the house.
Most of all, embracing my imperfect house allows me to tell some great stories and practice making lemonade out of lemons. A few years ago we noticed our bedroom ceiling sagging 6-7 inches over the bed. Our response...quick, turn the lights out and pray, "now we lay me down to sleep, please God don't let the ceiling come crashing down on us tonight!" In order to more fully apprectiate this situation, I need to tell you that we have a radiant heat system in our home and the ceiling is several inches of concrete with copper pipes full of water runing through it. It would leave a mark if it fell! The next day, my husband had some friends come over and they devised a system of 2x4s and 4 metal poles to hold the ceiling up until the best way of fixing it was discovered. I had an indoor pergola in my bedroom! After a few months, I decided I had to make the best of it and that wasn't going to include music and a trench coat (way too many comments about the poles from friends, wink, wink). So I went to Wal Mart, purchased some silk flowers and ivy and proceeded to decorate the pergola using the staple gun and some pretty blue gauze material as an accent! Then at Christmas, I went to the Dollar Store and got some glitter snowflakes. They almost made it for 2 Christmases.
After about a year and a half, we said good-bye to the pergola and re-attached the ceiling using screws about every 3-4 inches along every beam. You can still see all the screws and the crack in the ceiling and we also have the raw sheet rock around the sliding glass door to the porch from over a year ago. Add to that, we recently moved the door into our bathroom over to accomadate a new closet so we have raw sheet rock on the other side of the bedroom and missing tile going into the bathroom. I honestly don't remember what my bedroom looks like without holes in it!
During this whole time, we had many cookouts with friends and even hosted a wedding reception in our backyard (we did plant a lot of new plants and didn't let anyone upstairs!) My house is not perfect, but it's a perfect place to live and enjoy with friends and family.
