Today is our house’s seventh birthday. I say birthday, instead of anniversary, because we were the first people to live in this house. The day we turned the key for the first time, therefore, must be the day the house was “born,” right?

We have made so many happy memories, and built such special traditions here. We’ve added two children to our family since we moved in (although one of those two was already with us the day we unloaded the truck!). We’ve added even more “stuff”–furniture, school supplies (who would have thought when we moved in that the most-used room of our house would be a school room?!?), and toys appropriate for children who are much older than the ones who moved in with us.

I love looking back and remembering the (Markel)parties we’ve had, and the friends who have visited. We have said many prayers and read many Bibles stories in the various rooms of this house. There have been so many special meals and desserts prepared here. So many holidays and birthdays celebrated. There has been music, and laughter, and games, and general silliness. There have been a few rough times, too, and sadness that looked impossible to overcome. The good times, however, have always outweighed the bad, and the sorrow has been, looking back, only fleeting.

This is the place I always wanted to live, even though I didn’t quite know it when we moved in. I can’t imagine living anywhere else, and I never want to leave. This house has truly become a home over the last seven years!