Inspiration Pieces

When Ryan and I got married, we made a rule that the things in our home had to bear some sort of significance to our life story. (When you're cramming two completely full households into one home, you have to make some kind of rule.)

We're in our seventh year of marriage now, and we continue to refine and hone the things that surround us every day. Our house remains the same size, so we have to go through now and then and decide which things tell our story the most accurately and thin out the things that no longer best represent our days.

Because we try not to be overly materialistic, we also try not to bring too many things into the house. We try to keep it simple. But now and then, I find something that inspires me, and I just have to get it.

Back in February, I went with my mom and her friend for one final lunch and shopping trip at Gaither Family Resources before it closed for good. (Moment of silence for that!) I was in the middle of working on material for a retreat, and the theme was Fill My Cup, Lord. As I shopped around the store, I happened upon this little vessel that felt like it would be the perfect inspiration piece to my writing days.

Each day, as I prayed, wrote, edited, revised, and prepared, I'd pull the little vessel off the shelf and place it beside my laptop to remind me that if I ever hoped to have anything of value to offer the ladies at the retreat, I needed to rely on God to fill my cup first.

A couple of months later, I pulled it back off the shelf when I worked on the material for the event at our church: Pouring In, Pouring Out. I begged God to send people to pour encouragement into my soul and to send people who needed what I had to pour out into their hearts.

He did both.

I love that little vessel. It sits tucked on my shelf every single day, directly in my view when I walk into my office. It sits surrounded by other things that tell pieces of my whole-life story: a little silver cup that I'm pretty sure was one of my baby gifts, my college mug signed by all my literary classmates, my wedding picture, the crown I got from Belle on my 40th birthday, a canvas photo from my baptism, and a handful of other things.

That little piece of pottery reminds me I can only do any of the work I'm ever called to do if God first fills my cup. It reminds me that every day is a mix of people pouring into my life and people waiting for me to pour into theirs.

It reminds me why I write, why we podcast, and what I should keep at the front of my mind when considering anything else I might be asked to do.

I love having a home filled with things that tell our story. I love being able to point to any given item and tell why it matters to our life. And I love that little vessel parked on the office shelf.