Today, we moved out of our house that we have lived in the
past 12 years. As I process through the
flood of emotions, what keeps coming to mind is the buyers of our home. So...I wrote a letter to our future buyers.
(photo cred: Bruce McAmish)
To the new homeowners,
First, let me say, congratulations! You are getting a great
home. This place is NOT a house, it is a HOME. Every room in this home yearns to
tell a story. So, let me do the honors
of taking you on a journey through your new place.
Lets start with the kitchen, a place of great
gatherings.
(photo cred: Bruce McAmish)
No matter what the rest of the house looks like, everyone gathers here. When we built the house, we had a ‘must have’ list. One of the must haves was the freestanding icemaker. Trust me, living on the water, enjoying the outdoors, you will love to be able to fill up a cooler full of ice and still have ice when you come in for dinner. Did I mention the warming drawer? When you have company over and you come in off the lake and the food is hot but you aren’t ready to eat yet, stick everything in the warming drawer and let yourself linger in conversation a little longer. I could go on and on about the features of this kitchen, but I would rather tell you about the best part. This is a room for family dinners. This is a place where countless nestle tollhouse cookies have and will be baked. This is a place where cooking lessons, trial and error recipes, and social gatherings happen. This room is filled with more than cabinets and granite countertops; it is a room begging for breaking of bread and great fellowship.
Let us journey onto the family room. Did you see the view. Wow!
(photo cred: Bruce McAmish)
(photo cred: Bodiephoto)
Every sunset is uniquely different and
you can take it all in from this vantage point.
Many evenings you will spend relaxing in this room. As we recalled our favorite memories, my children
recall many dance parties in this room. It
is a place to just unwind and take in the beauty right outside the
windows.
Follow me to the dining room. I really love this grand window. The view takes my
breath away. As I sit at the table, I
recall every Christmas dinner, every holiday, every special time we gathered in
this room. This room speaks life. Just off of the dining room is what we
affectionately call our music room. It
may be hard for you to see. I invite you
to sit in this room and close your eyes.
Envision music being played on a guitar by a father and son or a
daughter teaching her mother to play piano.
Do you hear the music?
Go upstairs!
There are three bedrooms. These rooms have murals in them. One room has the inscription Matthew 4:19 ‘Follow
me and I will make you fishers of men’.
(photo cred: Bruce McAmish)
The second room has a woodlands mural 
(photo cred: Bruce McAmish)
and the third one is all girly
with pink, turquoise, and purple striped walls.
The walls in two of the rooms have marking of growth on the walls of my
two children. Two of the closets have
prayer requests with dates of answered prayers.
I am sure by now you have noticed that the carpet is worn. My children have run the hallways. They have taken first steps, they have spilt
their drinks, they have had multiple sleepovers in the rooms and hallways. They have built tents and forts all across
theses rooms. As I sit here with
tear-filled eyes recounting memories that I could write a novel about, I know
that now it is time for YOU to write your own story.
These rooms are now YOUR rooms to build YOUR memories. As I spent the last night in this house, I prayed for YOU. I pray that as you
first enter this house, you look past the walls, the paint color, and the
writings on the wall and you see more. I
pray that as you walk through this house, it feels more like a home. If home is where the heart is, I pray that
your heart feels home here. I have felt
the presence of God here in this home for the past 12.5 years and I pray that
you also have that same feeling.
Now, let me tell you- there is more to a house than the
structure you live in! Walk outside.
Meet your neighbors. These people
are NOT just people that live in the house next door. These people are your community. These are people that you will call friends. They will rally around you. They will support and encourage you. They make you run when you don’t feel like
exercising. They will make you smile when you
would rather cry.
When I say congratulations on buying our house, it is not
because I am glad to sell our home, it is because I am passing along a
blessing.
Lord, bless the hearts of those that receive this home.
Bring them great moments of joy, love, and
overflowing memories.
