Gratitude Day 480

Sat., June 27, 2020

Proverbs 24:3 – By wisdom, a house is built; by understanding it is established.

We’ve been eating lettuce out of our garden for over a week now. And it’s WONDERFUL! Hubby Rick picked this lettuce before it rained yesterday. Believe me … it’s yummy!

Fresh lettuce and fresh fish … that was dinner Friday night at the Vielhubers! While Rick has been on his Sabbatical, he’s gone fishing a few times. This was part of his haul from Friday afternoon. In full disclosure, I know the photo isn’t great. Why? Rick took the photo. On his flip phone. I was running an errand when I received this text with the photo: Fri. Nite fish? No wasted characters on Rick’s flip phone. (Side note – Phones are almost a nuisance for Rick. His stayed behind when he went fishing. I only know because I heard it ringing while he was gone.)

If you are looking for something new to watch, try Belgravia. This is created by Julian Fellows, who also was involved in Downtown Abby. Belgravia is also set in England. It begins in 1815 and jumps to 1840 in the middle of the first episode. Personally, I don’t find Belgravia quite as riveting as Downton Abby. But for someone who finds the upstairs/downstairs and English hierarchy interesting, Belgravia does include this as part of the storyline. Belgravia is distributed by Epix. If you are an Amazon Prime member, the first two episodes are free. Then, you can sign-up for a 7-day trial period of Epix, which I did, and am making my way through the rest of the available episodes. I have discovered that sometimes, I like to have something in the background when I’m working on something that is not in a room with a television. This show fits this bill.

These scripture cards. I’m not one to promote something that requires people to buy. But this time, I’m breaking my own rule. I have followed Emily Lex for quite a while. She used to blog regularly but has transitioned into doing other things. During 2019, she painted a little miniature painting EVERY. DAY. OF. THE. YEAR. Yup, 365 of them. She posted her little paintings on Instagram daily. She’s not doing the same this year. But people loved her little paintings. She has turned some of them into scripture cards. The paintings have a scripture verse with them on little cards. And she’s selling them. Many of her followers have requested being able to purchase her cards. This is one way she is making them available. I’m anxious to receive a set. Just take a look at the cards. They are pretty and fun to look at.

There truly is no place like home. A couple weeks ago, our 89-year-old neighbor, Kathleen, shared with me two notecards that she had ran across. The outside of the notecards is a pencil sketch someone made of our current house. The house was sketched at a time when there were more trees around the house. Immediately, I knew that I wanted to frame one of the notecards and keep as a remembrance of this old house. The photos do not do justice of the notecard and frame. I took them at the wrong time of the day. Yet, I think this little card shows how our house has changed over the years. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Kathleen and her family lived in this house. At the time, it was set-up as two apartments with one upstairs and the other downstairs. Since we have lived here, we have converted it fully back to a single-family dwelling.

I love this house. There are parts of this house that remind me of the house on the farm where I grew up. It has a front and a back staircase, just like that house. The front staircase is a beautiful open staircase, much like the one I grew up with. Hardwood floors, wood siding, a peaked attic: these are all reminiscent of the house from my childhood. During the last few months when we’ve all spent so much time at home, I’ve loved this house even more.

I know it’s silly to place so much happiness in a house. I know it’s far more important to treasure things outside of this world than those here and now. Yet, truly, I do believe this is more than a house; it’s a home. Our home. Where Rick and I have created lots of memories. Yes, we’ve tried to restore it and make it feel loved once again. Whenever someone walks into our house (which, of course there has been very little of lately), we want them to feel welcomed. Loved. Like they have just been wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold winter night.

Kathleen could have kept the notecards for herself. She also lived in this house. With her family. Yet, it’s such a small but meaningful gesture to have this framed notecard that I can take with me when we move out of this home someday. We have no plans to move right now. But when we do? I’ll leave the second card behind for the next family with hopes that they will make this house a home as well.

For the feeling of when your house is a home, I am grateful.

Blessings –

Dianne

Dear God – Who knew when we moved into this house nearly five years ago how much we would come to love our little place. Thank you for making this house available to us at that time. More importantly, thank you for inspiring us to make this our home. Amen.

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