Many of you have probably noticed (perhaps while checking the blog - in vain - for a new post within the last week or more) that I've revamped the design again. This is version 3.0, after a bland brown version and a green leafy version. Consider this my take at a sophisticated looking blog, although don't get too comfortable with this look, because I'm likely to continue to tweak or completely revamp, and may never find something I 100% love. Although the new magnifying glass logo really does tickle my fancy at the moment! Speaking of fancy, I also added tabs at the top ("Who am I & What do I hope to find," "House Tour," "Blog Archives," and "Current Posts"). Perhaps these empty placeholders will get me one step closer to my goal of having an "About Me" and a house tour, as I mentioned in my New Years blog-olutions. Stay tuned, but - as always - don't hold your breath.
In other (and I think, more important) news, there are bigger changes going on around these parts. I started the blog to share our progress in renovating our house, and to date, with little exception, the posts have focused on material improvements, purchases, and tasks. But now, as we enter the holy season on Lent, I've been thinking more about the constant call to renovate our hearts - to draw nearer to the One who has bestowed on us so many blessings. I've begun to more clearly understand my previously dormant beliefs in the purpose of our home and the meaning of all of our projects. I haven't articulated - even to myself - the source of joy as we find the former glory of this home. The golden prize of this search isn't the magazine perfect pictures for which I had previously dreamed, but rather the joy in acknowledging our many blessings and developing a place that radiates love and peace, a place that gives us the creature comforts to recharge from the weariness of the world, but leaves us longing still for the comforts of Heaven, and encourages us ever to seek that end.
I have many more thoughts on this topic, many more roads to travel in my spiritual journey. And I think it's only fitting that my change of heart is reflected on the blog as well. Don't worry, I'll still have pictures and show you the latest in our renovations, but perhaps with a little more reflection - a little more realization that there is something beyond pretty pictures and and an unquenchable thirst perfect rooms. Going forward, this will be about building not just a worldly home, but a Godly home. I hope you'll continue to read.
P.S. Check back tomorrow for a guest-blog from our first guest-room resident, my lovely sister, Maura! She's spending her collegiate spring break in "sunny" Ithaca, NY, and is very excited to share the inside scoop from an outside perspective!
Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit.
ReplyDeleteFrom a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop