Home …

This is home.

We have lived in this house longer than I have EVER lived anywhere in my life. Ten years may not seem like a long time to some of you, but to this Army brat who moved every three years growing up, it is an eternity.  It is the entire life of two of my children. It is more than half of my marriage.

After so many years here, we are very comfortable in our home. We have worked hard on every room. We have painted every wall and ceiling. We (I) have decorated, undecorated and redecorated every space. On a good night, when the kitchen is clean, I feel like my home is a blanket that wraps me in its warm arms.

Lately, things around us are slowly becoming different. Best friends are moving far away. Other local friends are transitioning to better neighborhoods. Across the street there is a for sale sign in the yard. Our siblings are uprooting and taking their families to new places, new homes.The winds of change are blowing, yet leaving us and our home untouched.

I’m not sure I know how to feel about all of it. For some reason, I am finding it especially hard and myself especially sad.

When I feel this way, I try to remember that ten and a half years ago, my Hubby drove into this neighborhood and had a feeling. He knew, because God whispered it to his Spirit, that this was where we were meant to be.

So many amazing things have happened to our family since we moved here ten years ago. Our family has stretched and grown. We have lived and loved here. Difficult things have also occurred here. We have ached and cried here, but we are stronger because of it.

I’m so grateful for this home. It is a refuge from the storm of life for my little family.

At the end of every day, when each child is tucked in and sleeping, I rest my head on my own pillow, in my own room and thank God that this is home.