The House That Love Built

O.K....I'm cheating a little. This was my Valentine's Day post, but I thought it would go well on a Wednesday Walk also. So, in the interest of not over committing...(part of operation Organize my Life)...I'm recycling this post! If you've already read it, I apologize, but if not please enjoy our little homage to the house that love built! Happy Wednesday!



A silent snow falls on this Valentine morning after a week of muddy-floody-rainy-mess. I have given the boys their little candy boxes and gave Tim his sappy Valentine card. Later, there will be pink and white cupcakes, a yummy dinner in a (hopefully) clean house, and a lovely evening with the one I love.

Last year, I felt compelled to write each of them a love letter, telling them ten things I love about them. I made each one a giant heart-shaped frosted brownie and put their hand-decorated Valentine beside it. It was an opportunity to tell them that they are special, that they matter, and they are loved. You know, it's rough out there in the big world...outside of this house, our home. This should be their haven. I know it most certainly is mine.

If I could, I would nestle in with these three people that God has blessed my life with and just happily live the rest of our lives. I didn't always feel that way. We have a fairly small three-bedroom, one bath house with a full basement (which saves us from being completely overcome with stuff!). A few years ago, we were so tired of neighborhood issues and this ever-shrinking little house, that we bought some farm ground in hopes of building a bigger house in the country...without neighbors to sully up our world and with more than one bathroom and walk-in closets! Life would be grand!

Then, my mother became increasingly ill as she battled cancer, and Tim's job as concrete/excavator foreman slowed down (along with everyone else in construction), and our house never sold in this new buyer's market. I stopped working for awhile, so I could be available for mom. And, our house plans were put on the back burner. The neighbors left and new difficult neighbors replaced them. I watched my beautiful mother suffer more than I ever thought was possible for a human being to suffer and then she was gone. I returned to work as we all grieved (and still grieve) her loss. We put our land up for sale as we realized that it would be better to stay in our little house than live under the weight of a debt we couldn't afford. No one bought the land. Apparently, we were not the only one's who were scaling back.

It took two years, and a much-lowered asking price before someone bought our land. Finally, last month, we were free from the burden we had put on our own shoulders. In that two years, I have realized that I love this little house that Tim helped build for us when we were just kids, while Timothy rode his Little Tykes toy on the plywood before the carpet was laid. This house, where Timothy first slept in a big boy bed...where Tim and I learned how to be married, as we began the journey of becoming one...where we came home to grieve without our Faith and Grace...where another pregnancy bloomed with morning sickness and a diagnosis that broke our hearts and drove us to our knees. We came home again, empty-handed and held on to each other without our sweet Thomas. A house that has been the backdrop for ten first day of school photos, fourteen family Christmas pictures, and several Thanksgiving dinners. This tiny house where we finally brought a new baby home (our sweet baby James) and placed him in the nursery. This house- with dents in the wall from times when someone threw a football and the recipient missed and stains on the carpet from spilled juice. This house that has flower border and burgundy carpet because I chose the decorations when I was just eighteen years old and the year was 1994 (yes, we will be updating now that we're staying!). This house... where our bedroom is nestled between the boys' bedrooms and I can hear everyone breathing the rhythmic breath of sleep.

So...this Valentine's Day I happily sit, not in my new house in the country with my own bathroom and a walk-in closet that's the size of our current bedroom. Nope, I'm here, in the house that love built, feeling all full and safe and warm while silent snow falls outside my window. Thank you, Jesus for this little house and this little family. My cup overflows.