Nesting

I have really been feeling the urge to nest lately. We are finally unpacked and moved into our new place and even though we may only stay for just one year I am ready to nest. I want to make our darling duplex as much of a home as possible. I want to hang pictures on the wall, frame photos from our wedding day, buy new art, and decorate each room with a cohesive theme.

It probably doesn't help that I also have a very close friend who is expecting. I am by no means ready to launch myself into motherhood but looking at fabric choices for her nursery or possible furniture and other items to decorate with made me jealous of her nesting project. After we spent a weekend together at an art festival, shopping at several baby boutiques and comparing fabric samples, it was time to finally nest.

We have a very old house. It was built in the 1920s so we can't nail anything into the plaster walls. So in the midst of Blake trying to study for his test, I was making him hang artwork attached to fishing wire strung from hooks in the crown molding. It was a tedious task but so far we have 3 pieces of art hung in our living room. One room down and about 4 more to go. Thank goodness Blake is tall!

So what exactly does this "nesting" thing mean? Why do we do it? Why do we try to settle in? How do we nest?

Dictonary.com defines nesting as the tendency to arrange one's immediate surroundings, such as a work station, to create a place where one feels secure, comfortable, or in control.

For advice on nesting there are several places to look online. One popular site is TheNest.com. A website dedicated to love, living and life for the newly married. It's an online community that is similar to theknot.com. It describes itself as your 24-7 virtual married best friend that offers advice on everything from how to get your permanent roommate to pick up his dirty socks, to how to inspect a property when you’re buying your first home, to foolproof recipes for entertaining the in-laws.

And to go even a step further Nesting Newbies "for a home tweet home" is a digital magazine with online cooking segments, and informational blogs aimed at showing those who are new to nesting how to cook, entertain, and decorate. Also, I just so happened to win a huge prize pack from them for the month of October so I'm pretty pumped to get my swag in the mail and use some of the cool items to start nesting with.

Is nesting spiritual? Is it right to want to settle in and find a secure place? Is it okay to make a place feel like home? Actually YES! The answer can be found in Psalm 84.

Psalm 84
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

What a beautiful picture of nesting. The sparrow and swallow nest, they find a place to call home, where they can have their young, a place near His alter! We must separate the ideas of nesting here on earth vs nesting in the eternal. Tomorrow my kitchen-aid, new artwork and pottery barn duvet may all go up in smoke and I will feel empty and deflated. Yet, if my nest is found in His dwelling place, His alter, then may I continue to praise the Lord.

So while I may be nesting in my little duplex with Blake and Kitty Lynn, I will strive to continue nesting in the eternal house of God. It is the only place that I feel secure, comfortable and in control when my Father is in control.

As a part of my "redesign" I am going to try to incorporate a few of my own designs that apply to each post. Below is a welcome new baby card and an invite for a baby shower. Hopefully my collection will continue to grow as I grow as a designer!