by christina britt lewis | photography by angela statzer charlotte is a small world. we love that our boys now sit in precalculus classes next to friends from preschool. growing up here is as close to communal as life in suburbia gets. that's part of why we picked here 10 years ago. we think it's really good to live life in community. boston will always be home and people we love live there, but it's funny how we had to leave boston to find a place where everybody knows our name. hehehe... we have been sitting on the soccer sidelines with this family for most of those 10 years. tim coached our boys when they were practically babies and now they both play for bailey middle school while we grown ups sit and talk about how the chicken we were gonna make for dinner will really be better if it marinates for another day anyway. so we should just go out for dinner together after the game... i mean, while we sit and cheer. we cheer. that's what we do. GO BRONCOS! she was camden's science teacher this year. told you charlotte is a small world. camden loves school and we are ridiculously grateful for the brilliant teachers who give their gifts back to the world to help make our boys people we respect and admire. if you know anything about teacher's salaries in north carolina, you know what a sacrificial gift that is. this must change. but i will skip that rant and go right to the point. according to camden... she is the best teacher i ever had. she talks to us like we are real people. the voice she uses to speak to me is the same voice she uses to speak to you. most adults don't do that. most talk down to us. she respects us. so we respect her. she's tough and she's really funny. i hated school. like still recovering and had to marry a therapist hated it. my gratitude for great teachers who speak truth and love to my babies is the overwhelming kind that shows itself in wordlessness and happy tears. so you guys, please help me understand why when she asked me if i would redesign her home, i said no. this beautiful woman spends her life giving her gifts not just back to the world, but back to MY SON and when she asks me to share my gift with her, i say no?? what is wrong with me? i do not understand why working for friends is terrifying for me, but it is. fortunately, she is tough and she is funny and she talked me into it. i get why she is a great teacher. she does not take a weak, pathetic no for an answer. all who cross her path are better people for it. her man is awesome too. he and tim went to see weezer together not too long ago. they are seriously some of the coolest people we know. they are fit and beautiful and fun and funny. they rock redesign your world love coming home magnets on their cars. we totally LOVE them. all they wanted was for their home to feel brighter and happier. more like them. thought they needed all new furniture to make that happen. when she finally talked some sense into me, i begged to differ. 'cause when i'm not being a total weenie, i'm pretty tough too... new paint, the same furniture, just a few new things, and redesigning with what they already had changed everything... antique glassware found in a kitchen cabinet. hydrangeas found in the backyard. new pillows breathe new life into an old sofa... one of our fancy redesignerly secrets is the connector piece. we look for things to connect the old with the new. art, accessories, toss pillows... this is the perfect pillow to connect old golds with new blues... this gallery wall is all their things, just redesigned.... her sweet words... You are so amazing!!! I just LOVE everything you did. I can't believe how my family room looks like a completely different room and I still have the same furniture. You have such a gift and I'm so fortunate to have you share it with me. kelly has a tiny heart painted on her big toe angela sees a tiny heart in a big driveway. love coming home... i have a feeling giving our hearts and our gifts to each other is a secret of life sort of thing.
our purpose. why we are here. what this is all for. it's more than doing what you love for a living. and it can be completely terrifying. but... i have a feeling this is more than just a nice way to live. i have a feeling this is the way we were meant to live. maybe i am wrong, but i used to be miserable most of the time and now i am happy most of the time. vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need. frederick buechner xo... christina for all Comments are closed.
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