She’s a Brick House

 

As I smiled today at the magnolia-perfumed air, I suddenly remembered the date! We moved into our home 14 years ago today. I wasn’t feeling great in the 1st trimester pregnant with Carson, but we did so much with the help of family. 

Prior to that, we lived in the upstairs of my sister’s home for 6 months, one week, and 5 days. 

Prior to that, we were in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where Craig was seriously injured and then medically retired from the Coast Guard. 

This home is special. It was an answer to prayer probably for my great aunt & uncle that built it in 1965. It was an answer to prayer & a refuge for us in 2007. 

It was so hard to go through something so traumatic while feeling homeless, jobless, and without a focus. Our belongings were in Massachusetts, our suitcases were the basics. My grandfather died, there were more losses, and then I found out I was pregnant, happily but still overwhelming! Craig’s pain was constant and progressive and there seemed little hope.

Our Pastor in Cape Cod touched my heart with a sermon before we left about how God prepares dry ground for us. It was about Noah stuck in the ark, but I see the theme in other areas too. I grasped on to that idea in ways he’ll never know. 

This house was a hope of dry ground. It became a home again. It’s filled with insanity, often a wreck, and it isn’t usually quiet. Things break, stuff is dented, and it’s far from perfect. 

This stack of bricks & stone reminds me again today that God comes through with dry ground. It isn’t always a house, a cure, or children. It’s usually just a peace; a profound knowledge that He is in all things in ways we cannot imagine. I tell my children & I tell my grandchildren that God can do amazing things if we wait on Him. If we wait for dry ground.

So while it was a beautiful day, we tackled some jobs at home. Things too long postponed because life & lazy. There’s always those things, and despite my whine & complaints, I’m beyond thankful for this dry ground. 

“He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭4:21-22‬ ‭‬‬