Closing a Chapter

It's pretty surreal to be typing this, but I really desire to be transparent and share what's happening in our neck of the wood...

In an earlier post I eluded to sifting through items in our attic. It's true, we have been sifting through items in our attic and in our closets all in effort to get our humble little home ready to sell.

Getting the house ready has been one of the most surreal experiences of my life. I know a house is just a house...and I am trying not to allow it to become an idol in my heart...but so much has happened underneath our first roof...we have truly made a little house a home.  

Some of my favorite memories include...C carrying me across the threshold after our honeymoon, finding the "perfect" place for each of our wedding gifts, enjoying our first meal in the house sitting on the kitchen counter because we didn't yet own a table and chairs, our big bulky plaid hand-me-down furniture that used to engulf our entire living room, steaming awful floral wallpaper off walls one inch at a time, hosting Bible study in our living room by squeezing in tight, finding just the right spot for our very first Christmas tree, hanging stockings from our fireplace mantle, playing fetch with Ella in the backyard, displaying photos of family and friends all over our house, becoming empowered as we tackled various home improvement projects like the kitchen and front room, learning the responsibility of home ownership through trials of leaky pipes, washers and dryers,  smelling banana bread in the oven, enjoying meals around our large dining room table with family and friends, cider on the stove around Christmas time, enjoying fires in the fireplace, transforming our guest bedroom to a nursery, red-box movie and pizza dates in the front room, dinner on the back porch (before B), swinging on the porch swing, bringing B home from the hospital, giving B baths in our fantastic kitchen sink, hosting family and friends for dinner and overnight stays, celebrating B's first birthday and dedication surrounded by family and friends, learning about our second little one...the list goes on and on.

As of tonight, there will be a sign in our front yard reiterating the impending close of a precious chapter in our little family's life.  I'm thankful I don't need to hand the keys over today and grateful for the chance to continue making memories...even if they seem to be surrounded around keeping the house clean for potential buyers.  I know there will be a day when someone else's mail will be delivered to the front porch...and that makes me sad, but really it's bittersweet because it means that our little family is growing and anxiously anticipating whatever God might have next for us.  

Preparing to sell our home has humbly reminded me of our Heavenly Father's call for us live in light of eternity...that everything this side of Heaven is temporary...this isn't our forever home...and we shouldn't get too attached with anything that's not eternal. At this point, this truth seems so much easier said than actually put into practice...I pray that my heart will be able to chose the ladder.

It is crazy, and I'll admit, scary (I have lost sleep from fear) to think that we don't know where our second little one will come home from the hospital to (I had furnished the nursery by this time in my pregnancy with B).  However, when I think about our precious home I don't think about its configuration, about the pier and beams, the roof, the type of floor, etc. I think about the memories...and need to remember that memories can continue being made anywhere!

Here's to our new chapter...whatever it might look like.  

Here's to trying not to cry when I see the sign outside.

Here's to whoever our buyer might be!

Here's to our incredible Heavenly Father for being so totally in control!!!

Be blessed.