I have a confession to make. Normally, I don’t feel as though I should be posting on this blog unless I have something profound to write. Something with meaning, depth, with a dose of humor thrown in. It’s the monuments I want to display, the lessons I have learned, and the truth I have found along the way. Not for you to pat me on the back, no, more so you can learn from my missteps, so you can march on in confidence of not being destroyed by the same landmines that just about took me out.
My word for 2019 was decided mid-January when my husband and I decided to move forward with our first home purchase. We decided to take one small step toward our future, together, and write the largest check I’ve had to write to date and put down a downpayment on a home.
If I am being honest, the neighborhood, let alone the town, wasn’t one I saw myself living in when I was a child dreaming dreams in our front maple tree. I dreamed of a house with a wrap-around porch, a yard big enough to grow strawberry and blueberry bushes, and at least a few miles away from where I would now consider my hometown. I never thought I’d potentially raise a future family in my very same school district I attended growing up. And never, ever, ever did I picture me as a landlord (landlady?), renting out the second floor of my home to a dear friend.
My husband was certain that these were good ideas. Or at least he acted like it. And so I made a small step of faith and said yes.
Yes we could buy the house I honestly forgot what it looked like inside until we had the keys in our hands. Yes to renting out the rooms we didn’t need.
Small steps of faithfulness led to deep blessings that I never saw coming. The fruit of the harvest is not yet ready to be gleaned, but I can see traces of it. I can tell we’re living some of the best days.
It’s amazing to me that the smaller I get, the more thankful I am. The more every day does become a gift to be cherished, not a race to be finished.
And thus this blog entry isn’t my norm. It’s not one of much value or much revelation, it’s an act of faithfulness in and of itself and remembrance to remember the small. To document the fact, more for future me than anything, that in every moment I have a choice of taking a small step of faithfulness or a small step the opposite way.
Those small steps add up over time. Each and every one of them adds up to a destination. Where am I headed? Is it where I want to be?
