inspiration

First, let me start this post out by saying I LOVE being a mom. Okay, with that said, I am starting to realize why it is difficult for me sometimes to always be at home. It isn't the typical things like, I wish I had a fulfilling career, or that I could travel the world (although that would be nice). Because I love staying at home with my kids and seeing the world through their eyes. But being a homemaker is work and it takes skills that I do not naturally posess. I am not a very organized person and have a hard time completing a task. But I am learning. I have realized though, that with all the diaper changes, discipline, preparing meals and flat out sleep deprivation, I haven't really been inspired. But God, in His mercy, has provided some inspiration and I have been learning a lot from a book that, my friend, gave me, called The Mission of Motherhood. It has provided me with a big picture way to parenting, and I highly recommend it!
Well, this past week, my mother and I went to see my grandfather, in order to go through Granny's things and see if we wanted anything. PawPaw wanted us to have the things that she loved so much. So my mom went and we literally packed every square inch of the car with things from his house. My Granny loved nice things and I didn't always appreciate them when I was younger, but now that I am a mother, I do. I want my girls to grow up eating on fine China on regular days and not just at Christmas. I want them to learn the art of hospitality and man, could my Granny host a party! So I came home with dishes and linens and we have been having lots of tea parties, even Reed has sat with us through one! And through all of this, I want my girls to learn that you can't take these things with you. Right after Granny passed away, my Mom and I went through some of her things and were completely overwhelmed. I want to live in that tension of enjoying beautiful things but not holding onto them too tightly. So that's where I'm at. Inspired by dishes! What inspires you?