I have always wanted to take something old and make it
new again,
especially old houses.
When I drive by an old house, I wish I could buy it, make it new again, and
let the rooms ring with laughter and sunshine from a sweet, young family.
So now
Here
We
Are!
Making a house new again!
I wrote the following in my journal on my youngest daughter's 19th birthday.
OUR NEW ADVENTURE
2-15-13
A
great deal of anxiety found a place in my soul today as we traveled
to Tetonia to clean
OUR house.
I still continue to call it Lance's
mom and dad's house, but hubby reminds me it is
OUR house.
I am not
sure how to feel.
There is a part of me who wants to scream from the
housetops about the excitement I feel anticipating moving to a home
with 'land' and all the possibilities
it holds.
Another part of me
does not feel such excitement.
Several
weeks before the signing of the papers for the house,
my days had
been filled wondering if this was the right thing to do.
Several
times a day I would find myself praying that if this is right, we
would get the house,
yet my heart was not in it.
There was so much
baggage left in Teton Valley,
baggage I do not care to open and deal
with again.
Even though it has been almost thirty six years since
leaving,
I find long lost feelings arise in my mind, taunting and
degrading the person I think I am.
The
day for signing the papers came.
It seemed surreal.
Could Heavenly
Father be allowing this to go through?
Yes, apparently.
There we were
in the room, signing papers which would change our lives forever.
I
took the pen and began going through the motions,
signing each page
with no thought,
just having a numbness.
While feeling scared and out
of control of happenings in my life,
the escrow officer asked how old
the house was.
I began explaining what Mom had told me years ago,
about a log cabin,
one of the first built in Teton Valley,
being
moved onto the property when she was about three years old.
The house
she was living in had burned down. Mom was raised in this little log
cabin.
After she and Dad were married, they lived elsewhere for a
while,
but when Grandpa Hansen became ill, Mom and Dad moved in with
him.
After he died, another log house was moved in next to the first
one and Dad fixed it into one house, adding on two more times during
his lifetime.
It is an old house!
Slowly the thought began to grow in
my brain
this is an
historic building.
Then another thought came to me:
This is the plot
of land Great Grandpa Hansen bought for his son many years ago
when
Teton Valley was making it's debut
into civilization!
We had just purchased land that has been in the
family since the beginning of it's first
surveillance!
And
now here we were rolling over the dry farm hills,
making our way to
our new home.
So many thoughts and feelings vying for time and space
in my mind.
Snow
covered the walk up to the door.
My dear hubby made a path and I followed
with a box of things from our old house.
As I walked in, ran the box
up the stairs where we have planned to put all the boxes for now,
I
began to feel some excitement.
Returning for another box,
I found
myself jogging, happily.
Running it upstairs, the excitement growing.
Lance said he would bring the boxes in if I wanted to grab the
cleaning supplies and begin cleaning. After grabbing them, I walked
into the house, set the bag of supplies on the washer,
and continued
on into the kitchen.
There I stopped
and looked through the dining
area and into the living room.
Such a strong feeling over came me and
I knew at that moment,
yes,
this is the right thing.
A voice in my
head said, “I have told you many times.”
I thought of the warm,
overwhelming feelings of love and acceptance I have had in the temple
on several occasions and also at home as I have knelt in prayer
asking for guidance and reassurance from my Heavenly Father that the
path we are taking is right.
“We are home”.
I stopped for a bit
to take in this glorious feeling of warmth and confirmation of our
Father's blessings
for the steps we have taken.
Two
more times during our cleaning of the house I felt the same strong,
warm feelings.
I know this is what we need to do at this time. It is
clear and I am sure.