New Walls

This past weekend my mom came and visited the new apartment where I'm sharing life with Ashley and Chelsea. A familial face in my new world seemed to make this fresh space feel a little more like home. It seems that whenever I decorate a space I want it to feel as homey and lovely as the last places I have lived.

But each is different.

While I always feel like I'm trying to recreate old, happy settings, I find that combining life with different people always results in a new outcome. This apartment is warm and colorful like the room in Ballard I shared with Jacquie last year, but it reflects the unique personalities of my new roommates. Piles of heavy Greek and Hebrew books, shelves of TV shows I've never seen and different shapes of guitar cases nestled among my own all tell of the different conversations, different sounds and different relationships that will be lived in this space.

Life is never the same.

Rather than trying to fit new experiences into old expectations, I need Jesus to fill me with fresh ways to love and an extra measure of humility to accept the ways this new setting will challenge my selfishness. The old wineskins must be put away; I need new wineskins to stretch and be shaped by the way the Lord is filling me in this season.

Sometimes living in new walls helps me remember that.