Life is just a tire swing...

Tonight was perfect. It was cool and breezy and lovely. I sat on our back patio sipping a glass of wine feeling blissfully content. Facing forward I could hear bursts of laughter and could see my two oldest throwing a football back-n-forth. Pure joy on their faces. If I turned around and peeked through the blinds, I could see my baby...toddler?...almost 3 year old?? (sigh, the years are flying)...sleeping sweetly on our couch. And to the side, charcoal and burgers were permeating the air - such a great smell. Chad had cranked up the grill and I had to sit back in my chair and take a mental snapshot. Truly, life is good.

And THIS tire swing started it all.

It's true! I didn't like this house. It fit our family...meaning it was big enough (that was before we got pregnant with Lillie Anna), but it was an older home that needed a lot of TLC. I was kind of "over" giving houses TLC. We had moved more times than I can count and had painted, updated and renovated each time...I felt it was high time we move in to a house that had been given lots of love and care prior to our moving in. ;-) But, the price was right, the size was right and the location was perfect. Still....I just wasn't sure.

I remember critiquing the outside of this house...walking around and thinking to myself "I just don't know...". And as I was thinking this, the kids sprinted past me to explore the backyard. That's when we heard it. Whoops and hollers and the kind of child-like enthusiasm that's contagious. I hurried to catch up to them and a smile spread across my face as I saw them jumping on this tire swing and screaming over their shoulders "MOM!!! DAD!!! We have to buy this house!!!!". Chad assured me the swamp yard had potential....he assured me the house did too. And I trusted him.

Tonight, I had to chuckle as Chad flung the kids high in to the sky. He was right...they were too. This home has not been my "dream" home, but while living in it, our dreams have seen fruition. We've lived here...truly lived. We've laughed, we've cried...we've fought and we've had peace. We've matured and grown and learned to be content in good times and bad.

Tearing tree's down, hauling them off and/or burning them, truck-loads of dirt, leveling, hours of planting seed and laying down sod,...yes, I'll admit - this yard has brought me to tears on more than one occasion. And now, I look at our yard and think we probably have one of the best yards in Fleming Island. It was worth it. The sacrifice and work, the time and doubt and the leap of faith was worth it. Life is kind of like that.

It was refreshing to realize my blessings tonight. :-)