Friday, July 27, 2018

Prayer for a New Home Owner

Photo Credit: @CynthiaJamesPhotography

I have paint on my elbow, on the floor of my tub, and on the flange in my kitchen sink.  The main portions of my home are now spotless, the newly installed carpet is vacuumed first thing each morning, as daily, since last Sunday, I have made myself scarce while a different realtor and family have walked through my home to determine if it is for them: This home that Dan designed where we brought up 5 children; this home where Charlie and Sam were raised from birth; where the pantry door jam documents the height of our babies and our ferrets. 

I have ordered a new window pane to replace the one that was broken during the airsoft war Charlie and his friends waged in the back yard.  My faithful friend Ana carefully painted the closet where D.J. would pile blankets for a nest at night. We left the clouds that Meghann and I painted on the ceiling during her preteen years - left it for children who it will certainly delight. I've painted over the message to D.J. from Brian, written in toothpaste on the inside of their bathroom cupboard.   I gently removed the vinyl shoeprint stickers I'd placed on the hardwood floor so little Sam and Charlie would put their tiny shoes where I could find them. We have installed trim in the places that we were always too busy living our lives to trim before.

Our children have now grown up and moved away to live out lives and values that were nurtured within the walls of this home.  It's been 5 months of full time work preparing this home to be sold, and throughout I sensed that it isn't chance that will determine who walks in and decides to purchase it.  It has been lovingly prepared, specially for one family whom God wants to bless.  This is not just a place. It's an atmosphere where God has been continuously welcomed since 1994.  Many blessings have taken place in this home. So too have many challenges to our humanity.  And the love remains.
We are not just preparing a neutral living space for an unknown group of people. In my mind, there is a particular family for whom we've been preparing. Each room we've taped off, painting with care, replacing switch plates, and attending to details. We are preparing a Gift, from God to them.  It's been done with love, soberly, knowing there is a reason it is for them specifically, and that they will happen upon our home on the day appointed.

So now we wait and anticipate.  On the other side of this decision of the recipients, Dan and I will move on, with only pictures of our former home, and the memories that remain. The next chapter of our lives will begin with grown children, grandchildren, and grandbabies to come.  But for this family, it is a new beginning in what used to be 'our' home that has been covered in prayer for 24 years, and lovingly prepared for them.