Home is Here

The first place Grant and I ever lived in as a married couple was a 2 bedroom apartment in Gonzales, Louisiana. We lived there for one year and 4 months. Sometimes it felt like our home, but most days it felt like an apartment. I always knew in the back of my mind that our residence there would not be permanent. I always knew that eventually we would move into a house, and that would be our home.

In May of 2008, we moved to Texas. Grant got a new job and we didn't have alot of time to look around at housing situations. We agreed that the smartest option would be to find an apartment, sign a six month lease, and eventually start house-hunting once we got our bearings. Sure, a one bedroom apartment is small but it's only six months, we can totally do that!

Fast forward to almost-May 2009, and we are still in that one bedroom apartment. When our initial lease was up, we both felt that the timing just wasn't right to buy a house. Our new lease is up in a few months and Grant and I both feel that the Lord is beginning to guide us through the house-hunting journey.

I am a woman obsessed. I look at houses online all day everyday. I look at the pictures over and over and over again. Could this be our home? Could this be the house that we finally settle down in? My mind rapidly flashes through future milestones. Hosting Sunday School parties. Throwing a wedding shower someday for my Lindsee. Bringing our first child home. Which bedroom will be the nursery? What are the schools like nearby? Is the pantry big enough? What about the master bedroom closet, how big is it? Is there enough room in the driveway for other people to park? Is the floorplan open so people won't feel crowded when they are at our house watching the Superbowl? This could be our home.

I am so caught up in feeling settled. And when you think about it, I kinda have a reason to. When I went to college when I was 18, I lived in the dorms, and I knew that was temporary. Then my roommate and I moved into an apartment off campus, and I knew that was temporary. Then another apartment in College Station, and I knew that was temporary. Then before the wedding, I lived with my parents and I knew that was temporary. After the wedding we moved to Louisiana and I knew our first apartment there was temporary. And here we are now. Temporarily living here. I've been in temporary mode since I was 18.

I think I told someone the other day "Grant and I are ientering into our 3rd year of marriage and I feel like the whole dang thing has been in a state of transition!".

But, ya know what I realized? I'm wrong. My life is settled. Every morning I wake up next to the same wonderful, sweet, hard-working, godly man. And we wake up in the same bed that we've had since the wedding. And we get ready for work. And we text message throughout the workday. And we watch The Office and I cook dinner and he does the dishes. And Moxie sits inbetween us on the couch while we watch a golf show. Then Grant takes the dog out one last time while I start the getting-ready-for-bed process. Grant sets the alarms for the next morning and we kiss goodnight and fall asleep. It's the same. It's not temporary. My life with this wonderful, wonderful man is permanent.

Grant and I have been together for five years. How much more settled can things get? No matter where we are living, no matter how many bedrooms there are or how big the closet is...

This is Home.