Memory Keepers

And so we end…

and begin!

Why do we call them our forever homes? What possesses us to think we have any control on that kind of destiny or fate or whatever you want to call it?  What could possibly make me think that the plans I make now are concrete and won’t change just because I said it out loud?

Now don’t get me wrong!

I believe in making plans for the future and long term goals. I’m just wondering how I can possibly believe that my best laid plans and goals and specific expectations will somehow be my future reality! I had 4 kids! That right there should have taught me to NEVER believe in expectations!!

So that “forever” home that I had determined we would welcome every last grandchild to…will belong to another family on Monday. A family that I believe was meant to live in this house. To fill it’s rooms with laughter and memories… with dinners around the table… fires that warm their feet on the cold nights… prayers heard as they tuck those two sweet boys into bed at night. This home will again be a place of beautiful chaos and love!

How can I thank them for continuing what we started 7 years ago? Especially when my heart aches as I pack away the dishes and the pictures and the memories? Our children all found safety and comfort within these walls as they walked through their college years. Our oldest daughter was married on the front porch. This house is where we welcomed our precious Charlie and Oliver and became Gigi and Pops to two absolutely perfect grandchildren… where we held each other and cried as each of our children left to be who God intended them to be!

Maybe I have the wrong idea of what “forever home” means. Maybe it means that I get to take all of the memories I have from this place and they will be mine forever! Maybe that’s what so beautiful about any home we live in! It’s not the place but the people you get to love in it! It’s not the front porch with the swing but what plans and dreams and pain that was shared! It’s not the rooms but the life lived! So I guess you could say I am actually taking my forever home with me. 🙂 Because at the end of all things, the gift of this house was given to me every day for the last 7 years through the people I was honored to love!

Cory and Brooke, I pray for you and your boys every day! You’re gonna love this place. 🙂 You are going to watch your boys grow up and love this house that will hold your memories in safe keeping until God shows you next! Thank you for already loving this memory keeper! You make it easier to leave. 🙂

Now… let’s make another memory keeper!!

Honey Locust Trees

August 12, 2019

The sound of chain saws, weed eaters (weed whackers for you northern folk:), and tractors bounced off trees and made their way back to where I stood in the driveway at Mom’s! It’s not just a dream or a thought or even an idea now.

It’s real!

And really hot!

We have begun to clear fence rows and fields for new things to come.

I had no idea that over the last few years while mom was taking care of dad as his health got worse, that nature decided to take back what was hers! We just weren’t paying attention to that! The weeds had grown taller than me and the thorns on the locust trees grew to lengths that made us think twice before we entered its domain!

Overwhelmed doesn’t even come close to how I felt, as I struggled to organize my thoughts on where to start first! Which field first? Which piece of equipment would be the most useful? Why the heck am I doing this on one of the hottest days of the year?? How could I even begin???

And then they came.  The ones who put their arms around you to remind you that you don’t have to do this alone! My oldest daughter, Kris, strapped on my 10 month old grandson, Oliver, while her 2 yr old daughter, Charlie, decided to be our foreman for the day!

My youngest son, Chase, found 4 other friends to help that day!

And my mom… my brave, strong, just 3 months past quadruple bypass surgery mom…grabbed the hedge trimmers and raked and began to strip away years of growth in that field!

I stood there for a moment and listened and watched. And you know what I saw and heard?

Promise… and possibilities… and future! 

The chicken yard has been cleared and the ground has been prepared for the barn foundation to be repaired! The field has almost been cleared where the shed is going to be moved (including all of the horrific honey locust tree thorns)! 

I am so excited about all of the memories that will continue to be made on that farm! And it dawned on me that day that memories aren’t always the soft fluffy kind! Some of the best memories are made with sweat streaming down your face while you work next to those you love!

Change.

August 7, 2019

I’m kinda rusty at this writing thing. It’s been quite some time since I have sat and put my thoughts down for others to see! So please be patient as I dust off the keyboard and open a window into my world. It’s a little intimidating and humbling to think anyone cares enough to read this. But thanks for going on the crazy journey with me! God surprised me with this one.

If you don’t mind humoring me, let me fill you in! See, 7 years ago Kevin and I bought 5 acres in the Lascassas community and built our forever home!

Complete with a front porch and swing, barn, chicken house and creaky screen doors! I was staying til they put me in the ground! And then God had to go and change those plans. 😌 But maybe the plans never changed, I just did. October 28, 2018 God told my dad “Well done, Bob! Time to come home!” And he did. We miss him but wouldn’t change a thing! So Gods plans were never for me to stay in Lascassas!

We decided to buy my parent’s farm in Readyville, TN and build my mom a sweet little house right behind us while we renovate the original 100 year old house for Kevin and I.

(gulp)
Do you ever feel like you are trying to eat an elephant? I know, its one bite at a time, but dang!

The house comes with a cemetery, old barn, corn crib, and smoke house that we want to restore also! 
If you stand in the side yard, all you see are hills and trees for days. God met me out there the other day! So many have stood in that same place from generations back! So many stories, so many tears, so many victories, so many fears.

He let me know it was time for my story.  It’s time for the story of my grandchildren as we walk with our kids through raising them to know Him! It’s time for your story if you come and visit and sit on my porch swing and drink a glass of sweet tea with me. 😊

 My time at my house in Lascassas is ending and it makes me sad. But for something new to begin there has to be an ending. So much of this life is pain so that beauty can be realized.  So much is about change and uncertainty and basically just faith. So, it’s time to begin.

I’m glad you’re a part of our new story!

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