Tom and Susan Bean built a rabbitat out of very simple materials and attracted cottontails to their Flagstaff home.

Tom stated in the February issue of Arizona Highways, ” I began throwing carrots into the burrow entrance, ”  In fact, I started to ring a little bell each time I went out with a carrot.  In a surprisingly short time,  the desired Pavlovian response occurred, and rabbits began to come out and await their carrot.”

The few followers I have on this blog may have picked up my focus is to rest in the Lord and what that entails in my daily living.  The “Unnatural Habitat” article has been stewing around in my brain since it arrived in the mail and the following are just some changes I made to help the wildlife in my habitat. aka husband and teen daughter.  Here are the carrots:

Step One

Forget the house for the morning and spend the entire morning studying God’s word.  I began in Chambers and he led me through a morning of contemplation on “Friendship with God”  (March 20th).  Everyday I visit and chat with my Father all day, but today He was my friend as I poured through Genesis 18 and then onto my WYAMDaily prayer calendar readings.  Writing in my journal, thinking and forcing myself to be still in His presence for the morning hours.  A big help withnoise reduction in our new home has been the elimination of the TV noise. Unhook  it if you have it in your house.  We are 2 1/2 months now without it and no one is complaining, our time with God has expanded exponentially.  My family occasionally views shows on the internet. The accompanying quiet is oh so….tranquil.  We all have library cards and check out movies just a quick walk away from our library.  We also occasionally rent, but you would be surprised at the selection.  Our library will order a popular request.

Step Two

Remove all clutter from most surfaces daily.  Clutter removal is visually restful to the eyes and moving has made this quite a challenge to me.   This week I moved 6 boxes out of the corner of the dining room into the garage.  Just physically lifting and relocating them was a challenge, last night during dinner I didn’t have to stare at them and think “where will I put everything in those boxes”   The “putting” just may be to the local Disabled American Veterans van if they pick up here in Texas.

Step Three

Food for the wildlife.  My travels this week included a very long trip to the grocery store where I purchased all the things my family loves to eat.  My husband loves salmon, and the special of the day was salmon so I bought 5 and stored 4 in the freezer.  My daughter likes snacks so I took her with me and she selected all her favorite snacks to fill the pantry.  Her delight in picking them, the expression on her face as I said yes each time she placed an item in the cart was worth it all.

Step Four

Treat myself to cleaning help.  I called a local house cleaner and asked if she would ever consider coming for one hour to help.  She had never been asked for one hour, but if that is what my budget afforded she would gladly accept.  Five hours later “Josey and the Cleaning Cats” (that’s really the name of their company) arrived and cleaned for exactly one hour and threw in an extra 1/2 hour for free once they figured out my husband was a Pastor.  I insisted they leave at one hour, but they insisted back it was important to them to give in a small way also.  I cleaned things all afternoon in preparation for their arrival knowing they would be able to come in and do a special forces attack on my habitat if they didn’t have distractions of bunnies everywhere.  MaggieBry3866.wordpress.com has a very funny blog on this.  Our teen daughter could not understand why we cleaned before the cleaning ladies arrived, but it became perfectly clear once she saw them decendon our home and attack it with great speed and intensity of purpose.

My family members are organized and efficient.  I have prepared painstakingly to have them arrive home to a lovely, clean, picked up place of solace.  My room in heaven is filled with books,and messy piles of stuff I adore.  My casa here is occupied by others so the work today will show them my tangible response to their desires.

We all stuggle from time to time with the question “Do they really know me?”  One look at my husband or daughters precisely cleaned and ordered closets will tell you they don’t waste time looking for things.  One area is in line.  The Rabbitat is ready.

Homemaking is important and today was my artful expression of love to my family.

“A whole generation of women exhausted themselves trying to have it all, when we should have encouraged them  to examine the choices and pick out the ones that suited them best”  Thomas P. Farley

A restful rabbitat suits me best.

Rest in Him, Trish