Four White Walls

When we got to our new house, I must admit that I didn't have an immediate connection with it. For the first few months of living in Michigan, I was a bit overwhelmed. Most of the walls were white, and the with the exception of the kitchen, all the walls that weren't white I hated. I am not sure if I just missed my old house (I loved our house in Lima--I really felt and still do that it was sacred to our family--it was one of the gifts God gave to us when he opened the windows of heaven upon our family and gave us more than we had ever hoped to receive), or if the way the house was decorated just made me feel kind of yucky.

Graciously, John and Alicia Christiansen came and visited and helped me paint the lime green dining room a nice neutral tan color and the pinkish piano room a deep red. Interestingly, that made the house feel a lot more like my own house--we began to connect. Michael and my bedroom was a cool blue color. While blue, even a light blue, is one of my favorite colors, it did not work in my bedroom. While Michael was in Tennessee on a business trip, I took the left over paint from the rooms downstairs, and painted one red wall and the three remaining walls the tan color. It really added to the room, and it matched our bedspread, which probably was part of the reason that the blue looked so horrible. Again, our new house seemed more like our house, and while my old house will always hold a special place in my heart, I felt less attached to it.

About a month ago, I also decided to paint Alden and Thobe's room and Hyrum and Jacob's room. We had decided on a Star War's theme for the older boys' room and a sports' theme for the younger boys. I had so much fun doing this. The boys loved their rooms. My first attempt at the Star Wars room ended up being a purplish gray. When Michael saw it, he refused to let it stay that way. He told me that we would have to change it. Alden and Thobe told him they liked it and that they should get the final say because it is their room. Michael had no problem over ruling that. Later that day, I went and bought a bluish gray that was even better than I could have imagined. It was so much fun transforming that room into something better than the four white walls afforded us. Of course we also added a border and a clone fat head, along with Thobe's baldy and baldy mirror. It will be even better when we install a clone wars ceiling fan and bedding, but for right now, we love it! I also think Hyrum and Jacob's room turned out great too.

All of this has got me thinking about life in general. Really in each state of our lives, we meet up with four white walls. Sometimes we arrive in a situation that is not ideal or that is not what we wanted it to be. In all honesty, there have been several times in the past few months when I have wished for my old life in Lima. However, I've been given four white walls that I can make to become what I want them to be and hopefully what God wants them to be. So much of life is just making our situations the best we can make them. We really are the master of our own happiness. I hope that I can always live my life today and make it be the best that it can be.