A Wonderful Story

Dear friends (if anyone is there),

I am sharing this story to journal it, not to brag.  It just made me so happy, I had to make sure to write it down.

When we bought our house, I did not love it.  It is a good house--very well-built and well-cared for.  But it is not laid out the way I would choose, and it was never beautiful to me.  The cabinets, for example, are a high-quality, solid wood.  But I think they are ugly.  I wish I had a separate living room that no one needs to go into.  The house had the big living/dining room, then downstairs there were two LARGE family rooms.  But with all the space, it only has 4 bedrooms.  There's a LOT of hall space but not a lot of closet space. 

But the house was really perfect for preschool, which is what we were looking for most of all.  There is a basement entrance; I was able to use one of the family rooms as a play room.  And in the end, we really only needed 4 bedrooms.

We've tried to make our house a home.  It is not a beautiful home.  I don't like the baseboards, window and door trims, cabinets, or countertops.  I don't like the windows.  I HATE the carpet.  Also, I am not a decorator, meaning I really don't have a knack for seeing how it should be put together.

And you know how we can be sometimes--not quite satisfied with what we have.  Oh, believe me, if I were a rich woman, this would be a lovely, lovely home with lovely, lovely furniture.  The exterior would have a different look.  The yard would be manicured.  The windows, trim, doors, baseboards, flooring, cabinets--all of these things would be replaced.  And I have it in my mind just exactly how it would look (hello, Pinterest!).

But we have pictures of our family, gifts people have given us, pictures of the temple and the Savior. We have a lovely piano (thanks, Honey!) and sufficient furniture. We are very blessed. Mostly we have a lot of love and laughter in our house, and EVERYONE is welcome there.


So this weekend, when Ashie told me this story, it touched my heart and made me very grateful. 

When Ash was in elementary school, she was friends with a set of twins who live in our neighborhood, just a couple of blocks away, in a neighboring ward.  They had come over to our house, and they had been there for a while when one of the girls said, "Ashtyn!  What IS that?"  Ashtyn looked around, trying to determine what she was talking about.  She said, "What is what?"  And her friend responded, "What is that feeling?  I've never felt anything like that before.  It's so warm!"

Ashtyn's friend described feeling comfortable and safe and just happy.  It was hard for her to put into words how she was feeling, and she didn't really know what that feeling was.  I believe she was feeling the Spirit of the Lord; and oh, how I hope she is not the only one who has felt that in our home!

A week or so ago Ashtyn had a date with a young man she met at Institute.  Lemme tell you, I don't think our house has ever been more messy.  Ash had been baking, dishes hadn't been done for a few days.  There was projects stuff all over the table and shoes and coats were pooped on the floors, chairs, and table.  When that young man arrived Ashtyn apologized for the messy house.  He said, "It's not messy.  I was just thinking what a lovely home you have."

Well, my friends, I used to have a clean house (before I worked).  It used to be a bigger priority than it is right now.  There used to never be clean laundry sitting on the table--it got put away immediately.  There were rarely dirty dishes on the counter, and NEVER overnight.  I would have DIED if someone had come over to see what that young man saw.  Now?  Well, I still hate it, but there is only so much I can accomplish. 

And in the end, if our guests, friends, and family can feel something warm in our home, that's more important than anything else.  I am very grateful today for our home.