We are 8 days from moving back to California. This week we said good-bye to our Blue House Hawaii. I realized that the more memories you make in a home, in a community, the harder it is to leave it. Don't get me wrong this house had its quirks. Geckos, cockroaches (in the light switches and sinks), even centipedes occasionally. Mike had to put shades in the kitchen to prevent me from getting sunburned while making dinner. Cracks in the floors and walls. Sometimes it felt like we were camping. However, I don't think we understood the extent of our attachment to this house until it was time to say goodbye. I was pregnant when we arrived here (see pictures below of our first and last pictures with the house), we brought Daniel home to this house. It's the only house he's known. Even now as we are "hotel living" he's asked to go home a few times. This house gave us a home during Mike's deployment. And this is the house I got the phone call from my doctor with my diagnosis. This is the home where I rested and healed. We were served dozens of meals, laundry delivered and loved from every angle. God has been in the details from the beginning. This house has a separate master bedroom and bathroom which was a blessing for our family visiting for such long times last year. Our next door neighbors became family and our houses often functioned as one. Sharing food, children, tools etc. We often joked about removing the dilapidated fence that separated our yards. We held a small group in this house for the last 3 years almost every Sunday night with the max number of children being at 21 (for 7 families). That brings me to my next blessing, the backyard. The backyard was a huge blessing in that we were able to host our small group, hold parties and other playdates. It often was a place of respite from the heat inside the house. Every summer we spent most nights in the backyard. It felt like Hawaii. What I will Miss Most Our neighbors The dozens of Hawaiian birds outside waking me up every morning All the natural light in the house The backyard The sound of trade winds going thru the trees The rare times I was able to hear the waves crashing on the shore What I Won't Miss So Much Bugs, Geckos and Lizards Bugs again (if you've ever lived here you know it's worth mentioning twice) Heat (the oven is the archenemy of the Hawaiian summer) Never being able to keep my house clean (see camping and bug references above) Having to store pantry items in the fridge (see bug references above) We turned the keys over on Sunday, after saying a long good bye to the house, almost taking pictures in every room. We are forever grateful for God's provision in giving us Blue House Hawaii. It will forever mark the time we spent here. Although we are very sad to leave it, we will look back on it with such wonderful memories. God given walls, floors, rooms...not just a house but a home.
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Do you ever have days you wish you could fast forward? Today wasn't that day. Today was the day I needed slow motion. Today we had to say good-bye to some of the best friends we've ever known. Our next door neighbors are moving to Boise, ID just 3 weeks before we move to San Diego. Four years ago we met as next door neighbors, just like you always do when you move somewhere new. God must have been smiling that moment knowing what we didn't know. Knowing all that we would go thru and the friendship that would come out of it. He kept us next door to each other for 4 amazing years, and when I look back on this time in our life it will always have them in it. So much has been shared between us that my house feels more empty now that they're gone. Last week movers packed our homes on the same day. Today, we packed up 3 vans, 20 ish pieces of luggage, 7 kids, a dog and took them to the airport. And just like that, the day we all knew was coming came. We had to say good-bye. It grieves me. The ache of knowing that on this side of Heaven what we had here probably won't happen again. And yet, God is still good. God knew the friendships I would gain here and he knows my friendships yet to come. And surely we will have neighbors in Heaven...I already have mine. |
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