A House with a Little History

I've always wanted to live in a new house. One that I designed and built (okay, had people build for me)...one that nobody else has ever lived in. I especially love that with a new house, nobody has ever lived in it before. There is no need to scrub the place from top to bottom before moving in. There have been no memories made in build a brand new home. That was until we started house-hunting this time last year and I realized just how expensive houses were. My fantasy bubble was burst. I'd have to settle on one of those old, already-lived in, dirty houses. Okay, that's a little exaggerated. Our house isn't really all that old and it wasn't all that dirty, but it was certainly lived-in. It had that lived-in look: scratches in the hardwood floors, dings in the kitchen cabinets, traces of dog hair on the trim from the previous owner's dog. For the past few months I've complained about these things and we've been working to fix the house up, make it feel more like our home. But I learned something on Saturday that made me take a step back and appreciate our already-lived in house a little more.

We've heard a little about the history of our house from our neighbors. The addition that was added in the back a few years ago. The couple that didn't take care of the lawn. The family with the dog that would terrorize anyone walking by. Our neighbors graciously shared all that up front. What I learned on Saturday though from my kind old neighbor was that our house had a history to it worth getting excited about (if you're me anyway). It turns out that two of the previous owners had adopted children. Imagine the big smile that came across my face. We already knew that the couple we purchased the home from had an adopted son - an African American boy from the inner city of Milwaukee. I had met him before. What I didn't know was that another family that previously lived in our house had two adopted daughters. They were also adopted domestically, although my old neighbor couldn't quite remember from which state. Some might just call this a coincidence and laugh at my excitement. But not me. I know how rare it is for people in our community to adopt. Adoption, especially trans-racial adoption, isn't something that people in our community talk about, let alone do quite frequently. So to think that three precious orphans were welcomed into their forever families in our house made me smile. Someday we'll be adding to that history. I'm so thankful for my neighbor who helped me to realize that my old, already-lived in house was absolutely perfect - it was filled with great forever family memories and a rich, beautiful history that only He could shape. My old, already-lived in house is as good as new!

I'm thinking someday when we sell our house and move onto the next one, we'll have to put a pre-requisite in the listing: must have a heart for orphans and be open to adoption.