Pretty Things

I bought some pretty things today.

I'm not a big spender—I'm Dutch, don't forget—so to get so much all at once is rather exciting. Making things look good is fun! I remember once when I finished decorating a bathroom, I would find myself standing outside the door staring in dreamily. I like pretty things. Is that bad?

The reason I even question that is because I'm not just a girl-girl. I'm also a person who is passionate about social justice, about defending the weak, about seeking first the kingdom of God.

How do I reconcile my love of homemaking with my passion for impacting the world? How do I delight in loveliness when there is so much suffering?

I don't have any answers.

I suppose living in conflict is not a bad thing. Not comfortable, but probably healthy. God loves beauty too, and one of his dominant characteristics is his compassionate for the weak. If he does both, I can strive for that too.

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In case you're interested, here are the pretty things I bought:

This lovely dining set was chosen by Larry and me as our 4-year anniversary present to ourselves. Believe it or not, my manly man wanted this too; last year we bought silverware, and he wanted that too. (No wonder I'm so madly in love with him.) Each year we purchase something to build up our home. We like being home together.

This fun set I've only just begun to collect, beginning with the pitcher. (Isn't it cute?! Click on the pitcher to see the rest of the set.) I get a little bit each month--paying only shipping because I'm a writer for DaySpring's blog (in)Courage. (Gotta love it when hobbies pay off.) And I can't wait to invite over some girlfriends to enjoy it with me.

This metal wall hanging reminds us of our trip (last fall!) to upper state New York. We picked up Larry's daughter Lydia and took her to Vermont with us. The fall colors were gorgeous as we drove through the mountains, and we just didn't have time to do any shopping to find a keepsake. (We like to buy something every time we travel together...and slowly collect meaningful treasures.) I've been keeping my eyes open for something pretty all this time, and finally found it.

This wall hanging reminds us of our trip last month to Celebrate Church in Sioux Falls, Iowa. We couldn't find just the right thing on that trip either, but knew we wanted something that was beautiful, mysterious, simple, and powerful all at once ... because that was how we experienced Celebrate Church. (The caption on this picture is "Celebration" by the way, and I got it free from DaySpring too :) We don't want to forget our encounter with God there as he worked through the Church.