Surroundings

We've had quite a bit of change around here lately.  In November we moved to a new house and spent the time between then and now getting moved in.  I think I won't really feel absolutely IN for some time yet but we are functioning and each day sees a bit more living and a bit less unpacking.  And yesterday we moved church digs.  Our ward was moved to the lovely old-but-renovated chapel down the street from us.  It has rich history, stained glass windows (unheard of in an LDS chapel!), frescos on the walls, sunlight streaming into the windows.  It was a strange but altogether lovely Sunday yesterday. 

It's got me to thinking about surroundings and how they can really affect us, even unexpectedly.  The new church yesterday, the stained glass, the streaming sun, the more compact classrooms---it all made for a beautiful sense of peace.  People kept commenting that "the church is the same no matter how nice or how simple the building" and while I believe this.....wow, stained glass can help a lot! 
And the house.  We had a difficult Fall.  We were sick and stressed and then we closed and moved in total chaos (I was sick that weekend, too) and then more sickness and busy-ness and stress and the holidays were rushed and more sickness.  During those first months I often wondered if we'd made a huge mistake.  Don't get me wrong:  the house is perfect for us.  Not perfect (yet!) but for us:  yes.  But my mood and energy were off.  And I had to wonder:  is it the surroundings that are affecting me this way?  Is there something about this house that is going to pull me under?  I'm finally beginning to see that it's not so much the house but the other factors that have gone with it---sick, busy, tired, stressed, rushed, bad weather, etc.

And then I think about my focus for 2009:  to be calmer and more patient with the kids.  To make sure my actions and voice and words reflect the love I feel for them and not that I may be busy or anxious or tired. 

"If Mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy". 

Because I am a large part of my children's "house", of their surroundings.  I need to make sure I'm more like a stained glass window with sun streaming in it then a foggy, rain-splattered one.