Preparing Our Hearts and Home

Now that our homestudy has been approved, we only have a few things left to do...wait, pray, and prepare. Out of the three, the waiting is by far the hardest for me! The best medicine that I have been finding for my impatience is to simply stay busy. I have spent hours reading through parenting books (of which, I highly recommend Beyond Consequences, Control, and Logic by Forbes and Post), buying baby necessities, and preparing our house. Currently, the closets are organized, the windows have been washed, and the deck has been refinished. My favorite project by far, though, has been preparing the nursery. I have to admit that I was hesitant about getting the nursery ready at first. I had several people warn me that it would just make the waiting more unbearable. Being the organizationoholic that I am, though, I just couldn't not get started on it!:-) Now that it is finished, I am finding that it is not making the wait more unbearable at all. In fact, it is one of my favorite places to be on my impatient days. When I go in that room, I am reminded that I am expecting. I may not show physical signs of an expectant mother, but I am expecting just the same. I am also reminded that, just as a pregnant mother would, it is important for me to be actively preparing for the child that God is simultaneously preparing for us. It has been easy to prepare our house, but I have found that preparing my heart is something that I have to be more mindful of. In that spirit of mindfulness, I have needed to give room for God to work and it is truly amazing what He is accomplishing! I now realize that I wouldn't have been prepared to be a mother in what I thought was my timeline...God really does have perfect timing and He obviously isn't done with me yet!

Below are some pictures of my most recent "labor of love"...the nursery!