Gratitude Lounge

Dear friend: I have to start out by apologizing for not posting sooner. I read this yesterday and had such a visceral response that I couldn’t possibly find the words. Like you….I think the dust had to settle first in order for me to have the presence of mind to reply. But, it has been on my heart to share with you and I will try this morning.

We moved just 2 years ago from the home in which we lived for 33 years and raised both our daughters in. It was “the house that Mark built” because my husband put so much of his blood, sweat and tears into fixing, remodeling, etc. It was a 1 bedroom shack fixer-upper…….it was all we could afford at the time. It was so small that our bedroom furniture from our newlywed apartment didn’t fit in the tiny bedroom. The woman who had lived there was a chain smoker….all of the walls had nicotine stains running down them. She was 90+ years old and moving into a nursing home so the house was totally neglected. We tackled this project with the enthusiasm of youth (and before I got sick). It had to be completely gutted and re-wired. The refrigerator was on the back porch because there was no room for it in the kitchen. When our daughter was born….we slept in the living room for 3 years while putting on an addition.
We had a hurricane during this addition and just a tarp for a roof. I remember my husband climbing up there to make sure it stayed put…..terrifying. When we found out we were expecting (miraculously) a 2nd child 11 years later, we put on another addition (by this time I was very sick and we hired a family friend to do the work).

Needless to say, we had fully invested ourselves in this home (not to mention our neighborhood and community) and although I was excited to move out to the country, the memories and emotions were overwhelming.

And now, we add to that the stress and anxiety of selling our home, while at the same time, looking for a new one. I won’t go into all the gory (and they were extremely gory at times) details….suffice to say this was the most stressful thing I had ever gone through in my adult life. And that is saying something, considering I was living with chronic illness (the road to that diagnosis being it’s own nightmare), and had 2 high-risk pregnancies…the 2nd one at age 40, I spent 2 entire months in the hospital trying to keep this baby alive.
Wow….I am reliving this as I type and my hands are sweating and I have a pit in my stomach. But you have helped me in countless ways my friend and I hope that my sharing this will help you in some small way to not feel alone in this challenge. Trying to move when living with chronic illness is a “climbing Mt. Everest” experience that can be incredibly overwhelming. We also moved with 2 cats and a dog and had to find places for them to go during open houses. I remember people coming to look at the house and having to take the dog outside for a walk, regardless of how I felt physically at the time. Open houses were a nightmare….after all, we were living our lives, 2 full time jobs, 3 pets., etc. ……..of course we had to clean, scrub and stage each time for them. We had accumulated so much “stuff” over the 33 years..the sorting and cleaning out itself was a full time job. I lost track of how many times the goodwill van came to pick up our stuff. We threw out so much that I thought the sanitation guys would stop taking it…so we asked our neighbors if we could put some in their can on pick-up day! Haha.. We had a huge yard sale where we practically gave everything away for free!

Anyway…you get the idea. I am sharing all of this with you my friend in hopes that the end of this story will be of comfort and encouragement. We are so incredibly happy in our new home and environment and, without going into details (this is already too long!) I will state unequivocally that this house was waiting for us…and totally where we were meant to be. Please know that you will have this ending as well my friend. Your next home is waiting for you and you will fill it with your love and build some wonderful new memories. I will always treasure the 33 years we spent in our first home but am grateful every day that God led us here…and He will lovingly lead you to where you are meant to be and will be with you every step of the way. I believe this with all my heart.
Aine…..you ARE moving on to better things! A new chapter, a new adventure in your life story is unfolding. I pray you will rest knowing that you are being lovingly carried and will arrive at your destination at just the right time.
I am lighting a prayer candle for you this day and sending you love and light and peace dear friend.

~Blessings