When Your Home Becomes a House

We had a power surge at the house on Saturday night, and it blew out our modem.  The timing definitely left something to be desired, but we finally got it all fixed last night, and the exile is over.  It was not much fun to try and find free internet, search for houses/apartments on the iPad, and try to wrangle four children around, but I think we are getting close to a list of places to look at next week.

Next week.  Yes, it's still a bit surreal.

We managed to get all the little odds and ends packed up or tucked away by Sunday evening, and our friend Jo came over and helped us rearrange the furniture and get it staged.  The cleaners came Monday morning, and the photos and video were finished by Monday evening.  A little over three weeks from start to finish, and here is the final product!

The house

At one point I told the realtor that when I saw the pictures, I'd probably wish that I lived in that house, but now that we're done putting everything away, I don't.  If we leave tomorrow, you'll know I gave up.  It's a lovely house (I think), but we've removed all the things that made it our home--the books, and books, and more books, the kids' artwork that got taped to the wall, the toys and stuffed animals, shoe bins and jackets, and all the balls from the backyard.  It's a blank slate for another family, but in the meantime, I miss the way it used to be.  Thankfully the kids have VBS all this week, so I'm not harping on them ALL day to stop touching the walls.  I go through the house before we leave and turn all the lights on, and do my final check--beds made, everything picked up, bathrooms cleared, counters spotless...I don't do spotless!  Even David is less than optimistic that some of the obsessive picking up and clearing will stick.  :)

I know God has a home picked out for us in Cleveland, and after watching a video my brother sent me, I'm getting more excited about being there.  It's a city that's going through a lot of change, and after seeing it, I started wondering how God will use us there to help bring His change.  In the meantime, though, I miss our home.