Variety in simplicity

I woke up this morning with new anxiety ... blogger anxiety ... recalling last night's post and a sweet comment from my friend, Tiffany.  I am normally a person who remains quiet in a group situation, hoping not to offend someone with my words.  But blogging multiplies my words and I am sorry.  I'm still trying to find the balance between certainty about what I need to do to be content and grateful, and being gracious in my words, and not sounding like I think my way is the only way.  It most certainly is not!

I know God made everything with beautiful variety.  Just look at landscapes ... some are lush with hundred different plants, some are just sky and sand.  And landscapes change with seasons and weather.  The same field adorned with flowers in spring is golden and dry in the fall, and snow covered and monochromoatic in the winter. 

It is a challenge to share what I'm learning about simplicity in my home and heart.  It is a little easier to want a simple look because it's my style anyway. 

How boring it would be if everyone's house was the same!  I love visiting other people's homes and seeing the creative variety in colors, layouts, accessories, and new projects. 

I say that selfishly, of course, because I love visiting friends for other reasons too --- sharing about our lives, eating their yummy recipes and ingredients, learning new organization and cleaning tips, admiring their children's unique abilities, memorizing their parenting skills to copy later, seeing what they're reading, or what quote or Bible verse is tacked on the fridge.

Tiffany's inviting porch with seating and festive lights for evening hospitality.

I don't want to make my sweet friend with awesome vintage style feel "un-simple."  Her simplicity is in the homemade gifts she gives even to brand-new friends.  She gave me a sweet homemade pin just weeks after we met.  Her simplicity is in hosting friends with a morning tea, served on her cute plates and not paper.  She gives meaningful family birthday parties and makes the birthday kid a new costume. Her simplicity is in staying home with her five kids, and managing her home cheerfully and wisely.  Her simplicity is in finding beauty in flowers.  Her style simplicity is re-using vintage items rather than buying new.  Her simplicity is a focus on serving God and her family, and she gets to use her creative gifts in doing so.

I could have a simple-styled home and not live simply.  I could still be running all over town, thinking willy-nilly, frittering away time instead of serving my family.  I could turn simplicity into an excuse for not getting things done or serving others, saying "that's too much work, I'm trying to simplify."  Or it could be an idol that keeps my attention off of God.

The look of my home should not be my goal.  The life we live in our home is.