Home Sweet New Home

I'm going to do my best to tell you what this past month has been like, and about two minutes into reading this you may start skipping lines and scrolling past and I wouldn't blame you a bit. 

But since this corner of the internet serves as our treasure of memories I'm going to pick up my pen (keyboard) and write (type) so in the years to come we can remember. 

Because we need to remember the last day we lived in the old house and told the kids they could eat whatever they wanted in order to clean out the fridge and freezer. They looked at us like we were crazy for about two seconds before diving into popsicles and leftover pizza for breakfast. 

And of course we need to remember prematurely packing the kitchen and then unpacking half the boxes looking for things we still needed. Or finding Wils packing himself in boxes and boys creating forts in the stacks of furniture. 

I don't want to forget the day we went to close on our new house and how it almost didn't happen. How the county held onto one piece of paper and would't be able to produce it until the next day at the earliest but could have stretched into the next week. 

But God created my husband to have a fire in his soul for holding people to their words and he took charge, made phone calls, we prayed and trusted God, and in the end, 8 hours later, we left with the keys to our new house. 

I don't want to forget tucking each of these five awesome little people into their beds at the old house on that last night as we were all a little sad to leave and nervous to move forward, yet excited at the same time. 

I want to remember the moving crew showing up and Wils cheering them on and complimenting them on their feats of strength. I want to remember Madison curling up on her pillow watching 'Snow', (aka Frozen) while our boxes were loaded onto a moving truck.

I don't want to forget walking the empty halls and seeing the silent bedrooms that each housed thousands of memories for our family. We doubled in size inside those walls and saw babies reach milestones, first words read, lives given to Christ, and birthdays celebrated. 

I don't want to forget the first few hectic days in the new house searching for towels, can openers, and pillows. Or the incredible family that poured time they didn't have themselves into unpacking boxes, keeping hyper kids entertained, and bringing food for the masses. 

I don't want to forget Wils discovering there was a bathroom off the rec room days after we had been living there, brother-in-laws hanging shiplap, nephews playing cars, boys chasing each other through fields, a princess twirling in giggly approval of her new pink room, a husband's hard work to provide such an incredible blessing for our family, or the overwhelming moment Matt and I stood in each other's arms, in the middle of our new living room, before the throne of God, with no words, just tears of gratitude from grateful hearts. 

This month has been memory upon memory, box upon box, discovery after discovery, and blessing upon blessing. We're unpacked, started the school year, and settled into a routine of easy mornings, lunchtime on the front porch swing, and sunset walks. A whirlwind has swept up the past few months, but I treasure them all in my heart. I can't wait for years down the road, to read these words I'm writing now, see these little faces in these pictures of the grown adults I had the privilege to raise here and cherish all over again this precious, crazy, joyful adventure. 

 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21