"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain;
unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise up early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat- for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."
Most would say we have a smallish home for the number of people who live here!
There are presently eight of us, and soon there will be nine. Our house is 15 years old.
It is a 1200 square foot ranch, and has beautiful finished walk-out basement room,
that adds another 300 or so feet of living space. We are very blessed with fantastic big closets,
and two and half bathrooms. We have a nice big eat-in kitchen with lots of counter space.
The bedrooms are generously-sized, too. We have a nice little backyard and HUGE deck.
We are very thankful for our house, though we do sometimes feel that we are outgrowing it.
We moved her nearly eight years ago, when we were expecting our second child!
We were so thankful for this house, our first, after our first four years of marriage
in a rented condo. This house was still quite new, and though the family that lived here
had four boys, it was in immaculate shape. We had so much more space, and our own yard.
We couldn't have guessed at the time that we would have a baby about every 18 months!
So we haven't even been here very long, but have gone from "plenty of room" to "pretty crowded"
in the span of a few short years!
This is how we make it work. I get rid of things constantly!
Every two months or so, we take a big load of what we don't need to the local Salvation Army.
I believe that "less is more" so if we don't use something regularly, or if it can't serve several
purposes I don't make room for it in our home. The children share everything, so we have only two
collections of toys- "girl" toys, and "boy" toys. Everything has a "home" because just a couple of
things out of place in our small space looks like a mess! We don't have separate rooms for different
activities. Our living room is playroom and hang-around and scrapbook and watch-a-movie room.
Our kitchen is for eating and schooling and displaying artwork- on all the walls! Our bedrooms
are for "roomtime", naptime, and playing. Everything serves more than one purpose! If there isn't
room for something and we really want it, something has to go. A year ago, our finished basement
became a bedroom for two of our daughters, and a home office.
We do hope and pray for a larger home
in God's timing. God seems to want to continue growing our family, and with most of us home here
all day, more space sure would be a blessing! We also desire to offer more hospitality, and it's very
difficult to do when our own immediate family fills up our space! We desire to be content and thankful
for what God has so graciously provided. Our home is pleasant, warm, and full of love and laughter,
training and learning, nourishing and cuddling. We are happy here, and if God provides a move for us,
we'll be happy there as well.