2117

Sitting in our friends well decorated and put together house last night made me think about the home we have created into our very own nest. We think its perfect and beautiful. Though it has its flaws, we consider them character.

When we bought the house it had been sitting empty for 6 years. It belonged to one owner so it was severely outdated, even dilapidated. Our parents thought we were nuts and they were right. Our grandiose idea was to completely renovate in one month. That's hilarious! One year later we still hadn't completed the project. We gutted the main level while living upstairs, all in our first year of marriage. Any young marrieds reading this should heed my advice, please listen to me, this is a VERY BAD idea. Why torture yourselves? You will cry and scream and fight and wear your stocking caps to bed because you have no heat. Bad idea. There's nothing romantic about this plan.

On one hand it was the worst idea we'd ever had. We were poor and wanted a house so we could move out of the apartment with the 3am dancing, curry cooking Indians that lived above us. This was our way of accomplishing that. Now, it is the best investment we've made. We're better spouses and friends. We learned so much about what's really important and how to love and respect each other. I learned that my husband is hands down the hardest worker you will ever know and that it stems from his great love and will to provide. He is a richly gifted man and I am honored to be his wife.

Our old grandma house with character is more like a new house inside now. Stylishly painted with color, glossy wood floors, crown moulding, plush carpets, and earthy textures. We frugally poured every ounce of our own creativity, sweat and tears into her. Every room is different, inspired by random things I liked at the time. We made a canvas and then painted our own version of home.

As I sat in their dining room, I was wondering how we can possibly sell her, handing the keys over to some strangers? It is foreign to me. Will they love her? Take care of her? Shouldn't we just stay here and keep trying to have a baby to put in this wonderful nest we've created? And then like a little light bulb complete with dinging sound, it dawned on me, this house and these things are not the nest. We, He and I, our marriage, our family is the nest. And if this great adventure we're about to embark upon could make our nest stronger, deeper, woven more tightly together with added color, then so be it. 2117 is a great house but she's not truly our home. Home is where we are together. Brooks is my home.

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth 1:16