The Luxe Life

Christmas time is here, and I've been thinking about all the different things we "need" to get our home ready for the season. It's easy to get focused on all the elements of our home I want to have in order for the Holiday. In my mind are the following "few" items I'd like to have wrapped up and finished sooner rather than later...

Reupholstered couches, new curtains and shades, a kitchen renovation and basement, carpet and a radiator for the third bedroom, a new bathtub, a tiled front door entry, and updated windows. Of course we also need a few rugs, a bookshelf to house/hide our tv, and a lighting fixture for the master bedroom. Turns out its a little more than a "few" things, huh?

I've been diligently perusing Craigslist for the perfect "deal" on furniture or carpets, and Google Reader to read through other bloggers' DIY efforts to turn their everyday home into a seemingly designer-styled oasis of luxury, comfort, ease, and...well... perfection. I hadn't realized how little patience I have been having for the process of on-going renovations and updates in our home and how much I had my mind set on having everything done exactly right and exactly on my time table (ahem... right now!)

That is, I hadn't realized it until I read a blog post about some beautiful re-upholstery fabric for sale. As I sat eyeing the fabric, evaluating where I would use it, if it would go with our "look", and trying to determine if I could spend a hardcore $48 a yard on velvet fabric, suddenly I saw more clearly what was going on, and it wasn't pretty. My heart was longing to have a "perfect" home, "perfectly" organized, "perfectly" decorated in an interesting and welcoming environment, and "perfectly" clean. Of course, my kitchen must produce "perfectly" delicious and healthy food for any and all guests whom may be available to stop by. So I had to stop and ask myself, where is this coming from?!

After a bit of reflection and the news that our little city vehicle is not doing so well and needs some serious care, I saw more clearly that these days I'm approaching this process with ungratefulness... I have not been thankful for the provision I have been given for today. As long as I'm laboring to have it all "together", to have a home that is perfectly done (and the budget to match), I will never be satisfied. Styles change, what's new eventually becomes old and faded. It's futile to put my hope in having it constantly all together... because I never will, and even if I do, it can only last for approximately 63 seconds at best. Am I really setting my sights on this?! Shallow, huh? *sigh*

So instead of spending time today looking for the next perfect piece of furniture or art for our home, the perfect way to remodel the kitchen (one day) and just how to perfectly style our Christmas decorations, I'm going to consider how much I have been given already and how I can use all of that to be a blessing to my husband, my family, and my friends. Instead of putting my hope in material things and appearances, I'll try to structure my day as to be a source of joy and encouragement to others around me, to love them more than myself, and in that way to live in light of the faith in Christ this holiday is supposed to be about. I'll be thankful for God's provision of a vehicle and the ability to repair it, and for a warm home to live in, and food to eat. I'll be thankful for a hope in something far bigger and grander than just the right couch pillow or living room rug or the first impression our home makes on those who visit us.

I will likely at some point still need come up with some ideas for a kitchen renovation, and for how to reupholster the couches we got for free. But before I get back to work on those items, I need to address my heart and my motive. Is our home about me and what others think of me, or is my home about loving God and others? Is our home a source of joy and thankfulness and delighting in God's provision for us, or is our home a source of discontentment? Questions I need to be asking myself today and more regularly than I have been.

Redefining my definition of the "Luxe Life",

-Domestic in the District