I haven’t blogged for a while. Apologies to those of you who check in regularly and have felt cheated and downright disappointed by my lack of thought-fodder in the last week or so…

I have been busy and I have been thinking.

You might ask what about.

(Well, you might not too, but if you weren’t interested in what I thought about anything then I would question the appropriateness of you reading a single word more… Ha!)

So, what have I been thinking?

All sorts of things have rushed into my brain – from the difference between sleeping under a hollow fibre duvet to sleeping under a goosedown one (Sizeable in terms of my night’s sleep) to the amazing fact that the arrival of February means houses in our area suddenly sell like hotcakes.

But neither of those things will have you on the edge of your seat. So instead I will offer you a little bit of beauty from a magazine I have been reading. The article in question was at the front of an “Ideal Home” that Jon bought me. Isobel McKenzie-Price appears to have a good head on her shoulders. She is Editorial Director of said mag, which sounds very grand and high up, doesn’t it? Anyway, she wrote a lovely piece called ‘Rekindle the passion.”

In it, she argues that there is much to be said for refusing to move house, but choosing to stay in the same one. She realises that her childhood memories are all centred around one family house, a place where warmth, love and happiness were embodied. Added to this she wrote, “If there’s one good thing the recession has done, it’s made us reassess our values – and realise that a home is so much more than climbing the property ladder. Life is as much about what you have now, as what might be in the future. All you need to do is take a fresh look at the home you already love and realise its true potential.”

I think that is pretty amazing, coming from someone who makes her living by taking photos of “Ideal homes’ and getting us to want them. Don’t you?

How wonderful that she has found a little contentment in life; a little sage wisdom; and not a little common sense.
We can all fall into the trap of wanting more. “I need a new kitchen,” we might say, when what we really mean is, “I’d like one like Rachel’s.”

Last night, I spent a blissful hour all on my own in TK Maxx. Now, I realise that this is unusual behaviour for me. But I just wanted to browse and look and window shop a little. For the most part, I found it hilarious to see what is currently in vogue. I am so out of Vogue you see. I am more FOGUE than vogue. So I find the current trend for coral coloured skinny jeans really funny. But, I am tempted I can tell you. Even with my figure. Just for comedy value! I was also taken with a bright lemon burka style dress. But again, I did not succumb.

I came home and read the article and thought how blessed I am to live where I do. It didn’t take away the fact that my wallpaper needs a good seeing to and the bedrooms need painting. But it did remind me of what I have now and what I am building.

Home is not about having more, its about being more. Its not about having Goosefeather pillows. Its about being warm and welcoming to others. (Admittedly, giving them one of those to sleep on, might help.)

My ideal home is the home I already have. Its what I do with it that counts.

How are you opening your home to others? How are you sharing what you have? How are you contenting yourself with what God has already given you rather than longing for more?