Thursday, January 27, 2011

Home is where your heart is

  Yesterday, our house was officially listed for sale.  With Chris being away for a couple of weeks, I'd pretty much lost track of the appt. we had set up with the realtor to sign papers.  That was Saturday.  I also completely blanked on the fact that they would be taking photos to upload onto the Internet that would entice others to buy our house.  My house is not typically very organized on Saturdays.  I think I would have taken the time to tuck away my denture case (that my Invisalign trays soak in) and properly make Josh's bed (instead of letting him do it, assuming he called that doing it) and maybe stuff the extra bedding that was sitting out in our laundry room somewhere else, if I'd been thinking properly.  Truthfully, I would have changed something in every picture if given the chance.  More Mary and less Martha, I have to keep reminding myself...
  I suppose that since the rest of the world (potentially) has access to these aforementioned photos, my loyal followers should be privy to this info, too.  After all, I've been good enough to highlight all the extra stuff you should spot!  ;)    
http://www.verani.com/listing/Rochester/NH/real-estate/4042104 
  The good thing about being completely horrified by these photos (though I think I'm over it now) is that it took some of the shock out of "virtually touring" our own home, though I must say it was still rather surreal.  Our first home in SC sold a while after we'd moved back to New England so we felt quite removed from it by then.  We were blessed to have close friends purchase our previous Rochester home.  It was truly a double blessing as we, in turn, got to build this home.  Our stamp is all over it.  It's actually the first place where we committed to painting bedrooms especially to suit each child, not to mention a tranquil blue kitchen and my beloved coral sewing-turned-homeschooling room.  It has a fire pit in the backyard with 1-2-3-4-5-6 little logs to sit upon -- just right!  It has the built-in's Chris fashioned in our mudroom area with four assigned cubbies and lots of room for many  shoes.  It has our very children's handprints indelibly impressed in the cement of our garage pad.  Chris & I spoke of growing old here, even joked about passing the house along to whichever of our children gave us the most grandchildren.  :)  I find myself trying to untangle fond memories and future dreams from the siding and sheetrock.  It's just a house, and we've only lived in it five and a half years at that!  Where is all this nostalgia coming from anyhow?  Perhaps it's because I'm such a visual person, that I haven't been able to really picture us somewhere else yet so I naturally feel attached to here.  I should confess that I don't get out much, and I'm well-suited to being a homebody.  I'm really very content in NH, and feel very much at home.  Which is a good thing since I've been "stationed" here, but if I now prefer to stay here instead of going on to where God is leading, it ceases to be a good thing.  So there's the struggle.  I've never even been to Texas, unless you count a couple of plane layovers in the Dallas-Fortworth airport, which I don't.  It's not familiar, not home -- yet.  Thankfully, Chris & I will be taking a trip together so that I might become acquainted with Austin.  His parents have graciously agreed to take care of the children during that time.  I think the trip will help immensely in that aspect, though in the end it's my heart attitude that matters most.  I suspect my emotions will continue to sway, but thankfully, God is immutable!  Did I mention that today (after listing it only yesterday) we already have TWO showings booked?!  Wow!  In all this, I am so thankful the Lord goes before us.  It's easy to get my eyes off Him and become overwhelmed with it all.  I'm very suited to that, also.  Do pray for me, please.  There is so much room for growth, for becoming more at home in Him.  I've been meditating on the hymn, Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting, that we sang for our recent ladies' meeting.  The third verse is my heart's desire:
"Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
 I behold Thee as Thou art,
 And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
 Satisfies my heart;
 Satisfies its deepest longings,
 Meets, supplies its every need,
 Compasseth me round with blessings:
 Thine is love indeed!"
         

4 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry you forgot about "picture day"! But your home is beautiful and God is in control of it selling so it really doesn't matter what the pictures look like! When I was doing the Bible study lesson on "Sarah" I immediately thought of you and how timely that chapter was for you...I'm sure you felt the same way. God is amazing at putting all the little pieces together to help us through difficult transitions. God cares about your heart and what it's going through right now...it's natural for you to be attached to your home. What God cares about is how you obey His will in spite of that attachment!

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  2. I was just saying to Chris last night that I want to be more like Sarah, willing to follow her husband wherever he goes. That familiar portion of Genesis definitely spoke to me in a whole new way at this season of my life. Thanks for your encouragement, Melissa. :)

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  3. You are quite mean to make me cry this early in the morning. :*) Sue, God has always given you the strength and courage you need whenever you have called upon Him. You have many praying for you, including me. Thanks for sharing your heart.

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  4. I am praying for you, Sue. It's so hard to uproot and go somewhere new. God will continue to use you in Texas too, I'm sure of it.

    As far as the photos go, I bet you could "stage" your house, take new pictures and email them to your realtor to replace what is currently up. When we were selling our home in Maine our realtor let us do that. It's worth asking about...even though I don't want you to go.

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