BEAUTY BEGETS ORDER

BEAUTY BEGETS ORDER 

An excerpt from A Pace of Grace by TVP Co-Founder, Linda Kavelin Popov, page 129, April 2024

I remember the best gift my mother ever gave me. When I returned from camp at thirteen, she had a surprise for me. She had completely redecorated my room. The walls were white and she had sewn a lavender floral chintz bedspread, with a pale lavender dust ruffle, and matching dressing table skirt and curtains.

She said, "Linda, you're a woman now and you deserve the beauty of a woman's room." Other teens might prefer to decorate their own rooms, but I found my mother's act of nurturance stunningly meaningful. Until that point my room had been in total chaos and clutter. Afterward, I kept it clean and neat.

My friend, Pam, offered to help her daughter realize her dream of a room all in blue, with a seascape theme, complete with waves on her walls. Together, they planned each detail.

When we discern and create our own vision of beauty in a room, the desire to keep it in order follows naturally.

David, a retired physician living with chronic fatigue syndrome, turned a tiny room in the wonderful old house he shares with his wife, Susan, into his personal haven. He built a wooden bed in the shape of a boat. On it is an antique quilt in reds and blues. A simple border of ships adorns the walls, and he hand-painted a starry night sky on his ceiling. He has boyhood treasures arrayed on his dresser and a neat bookshelf with his favorite books. He naturally keeps his sanctuary immaculate. Su has a bower of her own in an upstairs room full of light. decorated by her own award-winning quilts. They both sing the praises of having their own rooms, and tiptoeing up or down the stairs when they want to be together.