Five Years

There are times when five years feels like nothing. When I look over at my sweet firstborn, I'm in shock that he is 4 years old. It feels like yesterday that I got that positive pregnancy test.

And, yet, the couple that bought a house five years ago feel like complete strangers to us. Somehow, those two childless, double career folks turned into huge family people. We traded the Civic for a Suburban (!). We had three little boys in that time period. And, we went through a huge financial shift as we went from two careers to one career in building materials. In a record breaking recession. That hit building worst. Oy. So, somehow along the way the house that seemed perfectly appropriate for us turned into too much house. Too much payment. Too much money on maintenance. Just too much. And the choice seemed to be having me go back to work or to downsize our house.

That couple of five years ago might have chosen two careers again. That couple today? We are completely and totally committed to having one of us at home. And that meant that we chose to downsize.

What a choice. What a decision. What an opportunity to put feet on what we believe. It's been hard, and it's been a struggle; I won't lie. But, necessary and, in the end, we think a good decision. We prayed and we prayed. Then, we prayed some more.

And, so. We downsized. Into the most wonderful house. Next door to a park. With a flat, shady back yard for my three little boys to play in. This move has been life changing in so many ways. I feel very blessed that God has seen fit to bless us in the middle of lots of bad financial choices.

But what a lot of work! I'm so not the spring chicken that used to move every 18 months and think nothing of it. We've collected soo. much. stuff over the last five years. Stuff that we're going through and donating and thinning out. Stuff that we like, sure, but stuff that we are very sure is just stuff. Stuff is transient. Those little boys are forever. And, I'm glad we made this very hard choice. It's a good thing.