I'm thinking about my house a lot about it as we tear it apart for some much-anticipated renovations.
When our realtor first showed us a picture of this house, I said no way. I didn't even want to visit! Fortunately, he is a wise man and encouraged us to give it a shot. We saw some work that needed to happen, yes, but we also saw that this was a place that could be home.
Our second son was supposed to be born about a month after we moved. No dice! He was born six days before we settled on the purchase, leaving my husband and family to do all of the work of moving and me to sit in the NICU staring at a plastic box.
We are blessed to maintain contact online with the former homeowners, who lovingly raised a family here. I look forward to building as many memories in this home as their family did! We've enjoyed finding fun 'accidental memories' as we live here, such as a grade-school portrait behind a radiator, a seven of clubs under a floor board, a school writing assignment in the attic, and an old shaving kit on a long-forgotten shelf.
God orchestrated many wonderful people to arrive in our neighborhood at a similar time, surrounding us with fellow Christians. Our house has three boys. Beside us has four boys. Two houses past that has three more boys. Behind us are three girls and a boy. And within just a moment's drive, we have our dearest friends and my sister's family. And I'm not even including a half-dozen more fabulous, engaging families we've met an neighborhood picnics and on walks. We are so blessed to have nearby stable, loving influences on our family, and friends for our kids. Plus, we've already traded countless babysitting hours. You can't beat this place!
I sat on my neighbor's porch tonight, sipping an iced chai while our children ran around, whacking each other with light sabers. All I can think is how cool is it that God brought all these people into our lives? And unless the boys do successfully burn one or more of the houses down, it will be like this for many years to come!
