Clover Lane

Did you watch Stephanie Nielson on Oprah on Wednesday? Of course you did.

One of the things casually mentioned in the interview between Stephanie, Oprah, and the girl that visited Stephanie, was the “energy” of her home…warm, peaceful, and calm. Oprah made a comment about how you walk into some houses and you feel the energy and think “get me out of here”. That could have possibly been my house last week…oops. Really, I was sick, but I was also worn thin, impatient, sometimes plain mean. I yelled, I scolded, I “hurried up” way too many times. And you know what happened? That energy spread…like energy tends to do…no one was getting along, no one was kind and patient and nice to each other, no one listened, no one made an effort to help (without being asked repeatedly), and the noise level went up and up and up.

Sometimes I reject the ‘master of energy’ role that has been given to me, as a mother. I feel sorry for myself. Who wants that responsibility every single day? But whether I WANT it or not is not an option. No choice there. In a backwards sort of way, with that responsibility comes a power….a gift….whatever you want to call it. I’ve posted a little reminder above my kitchen sink of how I want the energy in my home to feel…just a reminder that if I feel these things in my spirit they will radiate and bounce of the walls and into children’s hearts. The more beings in a home, the stronger the energy needed…the more hearts to full. The more teenagers and toddlers…you better have the cardiac strength to bounce hard.

The real work? Getting the energy I want to exude into my heart every day. Making the effort to know what fills me up, and then committing to do those things every single day. That’s the hard part….every single day. Knowing what drains my battery life quickly, knowing how long my charge lasts, and knowing what fills it back up again…and reminding myself of all that often. That right there is the SECRET to making a home a loving, happy, welcoming one.

It’s been chillier here than usual. I am not ready for winter…I never am anymore. I’ll take snow on Christmas, maybe New Year’s Eve too. After that, I’d like to just start right up on April 1. Perfect.
I’ve also been under the weather…remember my Monday post? For gosh sake, I got a terrible fever and chills and aches that lasted 3 nights and 3 days...yes it very possibly could have been THAT (piggy) flu. It's not that bad, really! OK, it was bad at night, but not the worst flu I've ever had. And I would have never gotten the vaccination anyways. But if I watch the news and read the paper...I'm supposed to be dead! Alleluia!
Anyways, it’s also served as a wake up call to me that I need to take better care of myself…I’ve been eating just terrible and that’s an awful way to treat your body. I usually never get sick so obviously I've battered my immune system. My family needs me…just 3 days, and everyone is out of sorts. The fever has burned some sense into me.
In spite of all this…Patrick and I really needed to get some fresh air so off we went yesterday around the block and back again. I snapped a few pictures because the light was beautiful.