A House Becomes a Home When there's love inside

I haven't blogged for along time but felt that I need to today. 17 years ago we purchased our beautiful property in Oregon and named it Old Hickory Farm. I had seen the property in a vision and we had looked at many places trying to find it.  When I stood on the land, I knew it was the right place and many miracles happened to make it ours. 

Yesterday we signed the papers to sell the house to a wonderful family that will love it and cherish it as the great gift it has been to us.  In 2008 I wrote about our home and I feel it is appropriate to "reprint" that today because the feelings are the same, maybe even deeper.   I have watched God weave this house through our lives and bless our family over and over, always knowing the end from the beginning. If he had listened to my pleadings on the time line we would have missed many blessings and the "right" people wouldn't have ended up in it.

These are my thoughts from 2008 that apply today.

"we have released our home to become someone else’s special place.  

The house that I expected to live in until I died and where I felt I might actually see the Savior come again.  The house that is just over the hill from where our precious son is buried. 

The house where Emilie and JJ grew up, dated, played on the roof and turned it into restaurants at Prom time. The house that God designed through personal revelation and where we found kittens in burn piles and dogs under the gas grill.

A place where we watched the stars fall and orange moons rise and where grandchildren learned to crawl and bake and swirl in a magic tub.  Where cousin sleepovers happened regularly and talks of God and Faith were common. Where chickens feared for their lives and other animals got over fed.

A house that was built to withstand earthquakes and windstorms, teenagers and toddlers and where there was enough food storage to sustain us all.

It was a home seen in a dream and built from the sadness of tragedy.  It was a fulfillment of prophecy and a gift from God.  It was a house full of energy and yet peace lived there.  It was a place where rainbows miraculously touched the ground as “signs from God” and many beloved pets were laid to rest.  

Snowstorms came and turned old roads into long sled rides and family and friends laughed and played together. 

Church events were held there..RS, Elders Quorum, High Priests, YM-YW and scouts.

It was home to married children and grandchildren where it tried to shelter them from the storms of life. 
It was a dream come true because it had a barn.

 It was a laboratory for wonderful plants and exotic animals. It blended east and west because plants were grown out of love. It produced yummy fruits and vegetables because someone cared so much. 

It was a home that kept secrets and comforted in times of pain.  The wind could always be felt on your face and somehow brush away the cares of the world.  The stars were always closer there and you could see satellites , space stations and meteor showers while sitting on the roof sipping hot chocolate.

 Wedding receptions were held in its’ comforting space filling the house with wonderful friends, music, and beautiful couples.

The inviting parlor was a sacred place filled with ancestors treasures and a special waterfall, and where many wonderful talks and beautiful blessings took place.

It was a home that briefly sheltered a celestial son and helped to soften his leaving us.

Now it is time to let go, polish the door knob and turn our faces east, leaving this wonderful place in the hands of God who so lovingly created it with many purposes in mind.  I will miss it but I will miss the feelings the most."

Over 30 years ago I was in a stake choir that sang in the Civic Auditorium in Portland Oregon and one of the songs we sang had this opening line," A House Becomes A Home When there's Love Inside".  I am so grateful that our house will once again have a loving family inside and it can continue to bless lives. It truly is what is inside that makes a house a home.  All of our memories there will always be in my heart.

Here are all the words to the song--some of you may remember it too.

A House Becomes a Home

A house becomes a home when there's love inside,
When you let your love be as a guide.
When there's joy and sweet understanding,
When you're handing out a compliment or two.
A house becomes a home when you do your part,
And when all your heart is wrapped in those around.
Life can be just like a symphony
When you see a house become a home.

A house becomes a home when its prayerful there,
When for everyone there is a care.
When each one is kind and forgiving,
When you're living for some happiness to share.
A house becomes a home when it's full of life,
When there is no strife among it's very own.
Life can be so sweet and heavenly
When you see a house become a home.