Over 25 years ago, we moved into a small home. We felt all the excitement of first time ownership. After a long search, praying for where we should plant family roots, and being thankful that all the neccessary protocols aligned with our short time frame, we moved in to our “starter house.” At the time, it fit the needs of our one child family.
The purchase came with dreams. We anticipated either moving to a bigger home at some point or adding on to our house. However, no one imagines what the walls in their home will witness or the stories they could tell.
Two more children arrived in our family. Size didn’t seem to be a concern when they were little. Young bodies don’t take up a lot of space. But lots of life unfolds in ways both anticipated and unexpected. And intitial dreams change into different ones.
Job losses, medical bills and other unexpected unexpected financial and life altering situations unfold. Dreams that focused on the long term future become condensed to hope for getting through the week. In the midst, a lot of life happens and one day, when life seems to settle down, you remember the original dreams and sit with them. Pondering. Lamenting. Thankful.
This house that once felt spacious for our family of five became increasingly smaller as my kids grew. The reality that our dreams for an addition or moving to a bigger home set in. But I also remembered my youngest child’s words that have spoken into my moments of regret throughout the years: “It may be small but it’s ours.”
And I remember all the life moments that have taken place here. Some chaotic and worthy of despair but also some that epitomize the joys of childhood and family healing.
Birthday parties
The cultivation of my daughter’s culinary skills
Neighborhood tea parties
A backyard transformed into places of childhood imagination
Family dinners and conversations
Bedtime stories
This home is the place where dreams changed. Yet other ones began-the fruit of which I see the fruit in the lives of all of us.
Sometimes we need to let go of some of the dreams we have for the home we envision. But that doesn’t mean that other ones aren’t happening. Because a home’s value doesn’t depend on it’s size.
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