Making Home

I sat and watched this little bird the other day. She stopped by this bird house on my deck railing. Shopping.

She must have decided this house was for her because she went to work cleaning it out and bringing in her own stuff. She was a really hard worker and some of the twigs she was moving in seemed too big to fit through the door.

But she persevered. She kept trying. And trying. Until...

Victory!

She made this little house her home.

I admired her, working all afternoon. Creating a space for... her eggs? We'll see.

At any rate she was fun to watch and inspiring in her own little way.

Sometimes I bring home things that don't quite fit through the door. And they are things I really, really need to bring into my house. Things that need to be inside if I want my house to be a home.

The other day I brought home a good attitude. But before I got into the house I saw a pile of shoes on the front deck. Can't anyone put their shoes away?

My good attitude got caught on the door frame as I tried to walk past the shoes. I tried to fit it in, but the shoes! I left it outside amid the mess and brought irritation into the house with me instead. It turns out irritation fits through the door without much effort at all.

Funny how the things we don't need in our house are sometimes the easiest to carry inside.

Disappointment.

Frustration.

Resentment.

Tired.

Sigh.

But that little bird. She knew what was needed in her nest. And even though it didn't want to fit through the door of that little house, she kept on trying until it did. She was making home.

Isn't it the things we bring inside a house that make it home, after all?

I have to go out again today. I think I'll bring home some happiness.

Maybe a bunch of hugs for my family.

Perhaps a whole lot of grace. And smiles. And peace.

Maybe by the time I get home and see that the lawn isn't mowed or the dogs haven't been walked or the shoes are all over again, it will be hard to bring my things inside. Maybe.

But never mind that. A little bird taught me a lesson. She taught me that if the things I need to make my house a home don't want to fit through the door, try again. Twist. Turn. Bend. Don't give up. Try.