Guest post by Shellie Hochstetler of Screen Doors & Porch Swings.
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!!!