Home

I gave ‘ol girl one last deep clean before we were officially no longer the owners. As I scrubbed the baseboards of each room I was filled with so much gratitude for our home. Leaving 1699 was exactly the way I pictured it being the first time we walked into it.

It had been on the market for two weeks. Each time I pulled it up online the arch ways intrigued me and I would show it to Brock. The pictures of the house were not great quality and Brock was instantly turned off by them. He wasn’t interested in a showing, but when we found out we had to be out of our apartment in two weeks there was an urgency to find our house. So lucky number 39! Yes, you read that right. Our truly amazing, God-fearing realtor, Joy Pittman had to take us through 39 houses before we found the one.

As we were walking in Brock was telling Joy, “I don’t know why we are here.” But as I walked through the entry way holding 9 month old Casen I knew…we were home. It was all open. The kitchen, dining, and living room all just flowed together. I loved that the floor-plan allowed life to happen together. The windows were big and lined the back of the house and the arch ways really did give that cookie cutter house a little character.

I told Brock everything I wanted to do and, with that in mind, we made our offer and in two weeks time we were in that home. God does not work by our timeline standards! Our realtor told us she had not seen something close that quickly. Once again, our great God proved His faithfulness to us.

Fast forward three and a half years later and I’m blown away by the life that happened in that place. I really didn’t think I would be as nostalgic as I was leaving, but as our last day there approached, I couldn’t help but think of all the moments. Bringing three of our four kids home from the hospital and all their first’s. All the meals, the bath times, and the saying goodbye to daddy show we created every morning in the driveway as he went off to work. All the bed time routines and the late night bowls of ice cream on the couch in celebration of getting through another day. Every sleepless night, which in actuality were probably more than the nights we slept soundly in that place. All the sunrises watched over the field across the street because with sleepless nights come early risers, obviously. All the circles done around the island by little feet and the creaking of Casen’s door as he tried to escape bedtime. The endless swinging done in the back yard or splash pad created on a summer day. Every page turned in a book by little hands in the front room and every prayer prayed at the dining room table.

It’s where my love for creating a home really flourished and Brock learned that if you want to be entrusted with much you have to learn with a little.

We are in a season of waiting for the new place to be done, which means staying in temporary housing. Everyone has a tote their clothes are in, I brought the smallest bag of toys with us, mattresses are on the floor, no wifi, and our four coffee mugs along with paper products get us through each day. Trey has declared multiple times every day since we left, “I wanna go hommmmmee!” It’s been amazing to see through him what four walls really do mean to us. But as I have prayed over them and for them I have asked Jesus to show himself constant to the kids in a time of a lot of change.

I’d be lying myself if I said it’s been the most convenient thing but it’s really all ‘first world problems’. When in actuality make it one ginormous blessing if I would just change my perspective. That cheesy saying really is true, ‘home is wherever I’m with you.’ We can create the stability in an unstable season of life. With the six of us and Jesus, it’ll be a story for the books.

Now that we are actually out though, our whole fixer upper story finally feels real and I am ready to share.

Our last picture to ever be taken in our first home in Greenwood.