A House of Blessing

I posted on Facebook the other day that we were selling our house, and that our cleaning for the last time was bittersweet (as were all the other things we experienced at the end).

We set out to make our house a place of rest for those who needed one. We had family in multiple times. D-man's immediate family stayed with us (taking up all 4 bedrooms) when his grandmother died. His parents stayed with us every time they came to visit. His aunt lived with us when she left her daughter's house because they had a falling out. My family came to visit and helped us furnish and decorate the house.

A woman from Alabama who we met in Brasil posted on Facebook a few years ago that her husband had been diagnosed with melanoma. They chose MD Anderson as his place of treatment, and they live in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Immediately I messaged her to invite them into our home. Even though our old house is far from the Medical Center (the area of the city where MD Anderson is located), they wouldn't have to be in a hotel room with just each other and no one else to talk to in a totally stressful time. We got into a routine of eating Andy's special food (steak, mushrooms, broccoli, and rice) the night before his PET scan and gorging on pizza the day of. We have become unlikely friends through the experience. Amelia's response to my Facebook post was that she and Andy wouldn't have gotten through the first 4 years of his cancer treatment without us. I know that it sounds a little dramatic, but so often we don't realize the effect we have on others by opening ourselves up to them.

We were just doing what we felt God wanted us to do (and what brought us joy!), and have come out with so much blessing. My heart has been full for days, realizing that He gave us exactly what we wanted. God is so faithful. He tells us to rejoice in Him, and He will give us the desires of our hearts. Our heart has been hospitality, and He has granted blessings from that.

Pizza on the floor

As many know, we've been in the process of selling our house. Our closing is tomorrow, and we will walk away from the table ready to pick up and move when we get jobs.

One of our neighbors told us about a former neighbor who had a "last supper" in their house with all their neighbors. They had pizza and ate on the floor, because there was no furniture. We followed Kristin's suggestion and invited whoever could come over for a last supper with pizza (good, local pizza) and BYOB. We stood around the kitchen and ate, as there were no chairs. We ate off paper plates. We drank out of beer bottles and SOLO cups. The only fancy things we had were good paper napkins and homemade salad dressing. Kristin's daughter Morgan brought a trash bag and toilet paper (just in case) over. The trash went to Kristin's house, as today was trash day and all the trash was gone by the time we got home. Katie even brought rice krispie treats with a plastic knife!

Over the last few weeks and driving into the neighborhood tonight, I have been realizing how surrounded we have been with blessings. Amazing neighbors, who will invite you over at the drop of a hat (okay, so any excuse for a party!) and when you're throwing a party will offer anything they have to help you pull it off. We have neighbors who don't care about your house, and don't even care about what you can offer. They care about their neighbors. We didn't have to be Martha, worrying about many things. We were Mary tonight, enjoying the company of people we love. We are blessed and thankful.