September 5 2015

September 5 2015 Greetings My Friend I have a plan and I am anxious to put it into place. I think a bench by the firepit would remind me of all the campfires at retreats and such. Over more in the middle of the porch I think a group of rocking chairs would invite a group of people to share their lives. On the ramp up the porch is a great spot for a bench to sit on look out and eat, drink coffee and such. That is the thought running around in my mind. Visitors are few and far between to our new home even so I like the idea if we do have visitor’s then I am ready to sit down and enjoy some of life with them. Junior wonders over and over why I continue to attempt to make our home a place for people to gather when we don’t have visitors. Growing up people were always stopping by our home. I can still remember Mom screaming “hurry up pick up the house” as people pulled up to the curb of our home. We all scrambled sticking things under the couch or throwing things in a bedroom and shutting the door. When the guests walked in our home looked presentable. My first marriage we had family and friends over often for holidays, bbq’s and even a few drop in guests. I loved visitor’s and in my heart I still am setting up our home for the visitor’s to come and be comfortable. Junior’s life hasn’t been filled with visitors like my life has. He has led a quiet life and any visiting was done visiting other’s but not at his home. It is what he has known and lived. I love Junior’s lifestyle a ton. I call it boring and this is a compliment although it doesn’t sound like it. Along with visitor’s my life was filled with drama over nothing. I remember at one point telling people “I’d like to get off this roller coaster and live a boring life.” Junior and I don’t do drama and I love it. I watch him renovate, play with our fur children and he looks so content as he moves through his day. It took me a while to learn to quit looking for drama, I guess even though I was tired of it I did not know how to live without it either. Our niece and her family were here this summer and spent an afternoon out on the porch with us. It was still in construction mode but we had the bench on the ramp and we all sat around talking and at one point she mentioned how relaxing it was. That made my day. We were able to be outside and Junior took their son around the yard finding cool stuff and things to work on. We loved watching Junior do Junior as only he can. The two were content and Mom knew what her child was into. It was an awesome afternoon. As I dreamed about the look of the porch I felt like this was an addition to our home which excited me. This summer I have learned to porch sit for meals a quick rest before tackling another project. I can almost picture myself doing crafts, writing out on the porch next summer. I understand more fully how outdoor space is truly like adding a room to our home. With the roof on the porch we have shade and that means we can sit outside more so. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet