Little Blessings

So here we are in the dining area once again. As I'd mentioned before, we'd moved one of the dressers out from our bedroom to use as a sideboard. I'd like to replace the chunky circle legs and paint the whole thing, but hubby isn't on board with that plan (wants to be able to move it back into the bedroom and still match). This house was full of ugly white knobs that I've replaced a little at a time (4 in the small bathroom, 4 off the closet doors, etc.) - which theoretically meant that I had plenty to use to swap out the wood knobs... Problem was that I didn't have 12 matching ones, and everything I liked was $3-4 per knob. Ouch. I still liked the mismatched white varieties better than the wood knobs (again, couldn't paint them - see above :) so went ahead and used 3 different sets, so each "drawer layer" matched.

I had to return some items to Target yesterday, and had an extra 30 minutes, so wandered the store a bit. I spotted some clearance stickers in the aisle with all hooks, knobs, etc. and had to check it out. I found two 4 packs of these great milk bottle style knobs, and was thinking how fabulous they'd be, but of course I needed a dozen. I searched through everything in the area and couldn't find another set. Oh, well. Continued to stroll, and there, on an endcap over in stationery, was another set of the knobs. Wahoo! I snatched it up, and practically ran back to the tools/hardware section to grab the other 2 boxes. I "installed" them this morning, and am loving the difference. I know it's a little thing, but am so incredibly thankful that God provided a small desire of my heart!

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In other news, it's been a crazy weeks/months around our house. Lots of company - which is wonderful, but does add a layer of craziness - plus hubby traveling for work. Things are finally settling back to "normal" but there's still a fair amount of catch-up I need to do, and also just need to re-establish good routines. I 'd been doing really well with the whole weight loss thing, and while I haven't gained it all back or anything, the progress is has been reeeeeaaaaallllllllly slow ever since Christmas, and I'd gotten away from daily food journaling. I am definitely an emotional eater, and I've been stuffing things into my face all too often lately. I've been struggling with disciplining the kids (let's just say attitudes are definitely contagious, and mine wasn't worth catching. Just bein' real.) Our house still feels very disorganized, and I I tend to focus on just how much I still want to change which is overwhelming and discouraging. I heard Geneveieve Gorder from HGTV say something along the lines of, "Living in a junk drawer is exhausting!" and I couldn't agree more - our house need not be immaculate, but each room needs to have its own purpose and flow. I'm trying to just focus on the little steps I can accomplish in a day or so; doing something is better than doing nothing!

I've been spending more time in the Word, which has been incredibly awesome. I'm reading Hebrews, and I'm really enjoying just soaking up the scriptures; I'd realized that while I'd been reading a lot religious books, I wasn't reading THE BOOK nearly enough. I've also been having some really good discussions with a friend; she considers herself a Christian, but many of her ideas about God have been shaped by life experiences and New Age attitudes, rather than Biblical truth. It's been a great experience for me to substantiate my beliefs about Jesus and the character of God!

Speaking of friends, that's another area where I've been struggling. We've lived here 20 months now, and while I've made a few good connections, I still don't have that ring of support that I long for. I've been sensing God's leading in some unexpected places. I've struck up conversations with people who, based on outward appearances, have nothing in common with me. This may seem like a small thing, but I struggle with putting myself out there like that (I guess I've never outgrown that teenage fear of rejection). I've also volunteered for some things - and said no to other things that are more in my comfort zone. I don't know exactly what God has in store for me, but I do know that I'm being shaped and that HE is in control of it all, even when it appears to be a random mish-mash from my end.