Just a house

Don’t be afraid to keep moving on,
For what was before, now has gone,
God wants to accomplish so much more,
But we need to move forward in the Lord.
© By M.S. Lowndes, Based on Isaiah 43:18-19

I'm not particularly attached to things, as in items one possesses. It's what makes me a ruthless organizer. It's how I survived two big moves in 14 months.

People and places are another story. I think everyone could rattle off their top 5 favorite places and people on the planet. It might even be hard to keep the list to just 5.

I took the girls up to Michigan this past weekend. My parents are moving out of the house in which I spent my young adult life, so I thought I'd come lend a hand. I'm not sure how much help I was, but it was nice to be home just the same. The memories flooded back as I walked around the house, looking in empty closets and half-packed rooms.

I sat in my room and talked about boys with my best friend (hi, Becky!) in that house. I washed my first car, a red Jeep, in the driveway. I had my heart broken on the back deck. I broke someone else's heart on my front doorstep. I got engaged on Easter Sunday on the couch in the living room. I dressed for my wedding in my bedroom. I went into labor with Maddie there, and paced up and down the halls waiting for Todd to come take me to the hospital. I became an adult and a mom while my parents lived there. I watched my brothers grow up there. Let's not get carried away and call them adults, though...

I expected to have a really hard time leaving to go back to Illinois on Sunday. But I didn't. I think it's because I know that the place they're moving to is so great for them. And I am secure in knowing that God's hand is in it all. He has some big things planned for them, I can just feel it. My prayer for my parents is for them to move forward, together, in the Lord.

Of course, it will be weird to sleep in a new bedroom for Thanksgiving this year. But it will be fun to make memories in this new place, which is only 6 miles away from the old house. Change is good. It renews and refreshes. A house is just a house--it's the people that make it a home.