Home

My dad was in the Navy and I married an Army man, so I have been moving around for 42 years. Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint where "home" is, but I claim Woodbridge, Virginia. We moved there the summer before I entered eighth grade. I spent all of my high school years there and still tend to think of it as "the place I grew up." Some of my dearest friends and fondest memories are from that place.

When I was in high school, my parents and I attended the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. It became a kind of tradition to go every year when the blossoms were at their peak. Now, when I see cherry blossoms, I think about the Potomac River, the monuments, spending time with my parents. It's a good thing. It makes me think of "home."

My mom was a military wife and she always said, "Home is where your stuff is." She meant that any house can become a home when you move your familiar things in and start to make it yours. As a military wife myself, it has been a piece of advice I have held to as I have spent the past 20 years turning houses into homes, even if only for a year or two.

As we are settling in to the house on the hilltop, it feels a bit strange to think we may not move for a very long time. I thought we would find a house built in the 1890s, but instead we bought one built in 1974. It has been a fun challenge bringing it into this decade, but it certainly wasn't what I envisioned my "forever home" would be. I didn't expect a Brady Bunch house, but I am learning to love it.

One sweet surprise I discovered recently was that we have a cherry tree at the end of our driveway. This one is a bit past its peak, but it is beautiful nonetheless. It's a sweet reminder of the place I grew up calling "home," and also a sweet reminder that the house on the hilltop is now my home. This place is where my stuff and my people are, and I am to make it home until God tells us to move or until Jesus comes to take us to our eternal home.


The tree in the foreground is ours. The ones in the background belong to the neighbor. They are all so lovely!

 My Brady Bunch house is feeling a bit more like home every day. The cherry blossoms and the daffodils sure do help! :)