Goodbye Handerson, Hello Windsor.

We moved out of our condo on Handerson about two weeks ago and into a little bungalow on Windsor Avenue, just off of Fairview Avenue in Old Town.

Usually, I am devastated at such change - when we move out of one place and into another. Because, as we know, I am super-sentimental. 

I am obsessed with memories. I love and live for them, which is in part why I have scrapbooks up the ying yang and take photos of every solitary moment I think is worth savoring. 

I wrote a few weeks ago about rocking Levi to sleep and how I was going to miss hearing the Osbourn Park football games at night from our place, and the noises from the trains passing through. 

When we first looked at this place to rent I really didn’t think Isaac was going to go for it. It’s old…ER. It seemed smaller when we viewed it, and it had a big yard to cut. 

But he loved it.

Now I have to admit – I wasn’t a huge fan at first – a smaller one than he was, but now I am totally in love with this place.

It does have a few funky smells looming. Not sure if it’s from the previous tenants (smoke, dog hair, etc.), but it has a lot of character.

Things Windsor doesn’t have that Handerson did:

Garbage disposal
More counter space
Microwave
Ice maker
A 2nd bathroom

Things Windsor has that Handerson didn’t:

Yard
Sun Room
Den
Garage
Patio

Gosh that sounds grown up!

I realized we can “make do” without things to have other things we want instead.

Needless to say, we bought some ice cube trays, and a microwave. We share a bathroom, and our food remnants just go in the trash can. The new house makes creaks in the floor when we walk. The kitchen is outdated and there are some things I’ve tried to clean that won’t come up.

Yes, it’s a little more frustrating to deal with at times, but it’s really not as bad as it seemed at first.

I feel we are actually more blessed in this new space.

I don’t have to load up a cart with groceries when I get home and push it up to the building anymore. I just walk a few steps and I’m at my own front door. It bothers me that I use our front door! I want to be one of those people that use the back door, lol.

 

We can watch TV in the sun room without worrying about it being too loud and waking up Levi. AND do our laundry without guilt for the same reason. 

We will be able to get a grill and cook out.

There is storage space in the garage.

We have a laundry room!

And believe it or not – I have more cabinet space (older kitchen structure-makings were generous…newer homes seem to lack space even though they appear to have more).

Levi has a whole den area to play in that he hates right now.  But we are hopeful he will get used it.

And finally, I don’t have to miss the football games or train noises at all.

We are a block from the train and a block or so from Osbourn High School – the one we both graduated from. Football games here we come! Not to mention we can walk a minute up the street and see the baseball games from picnic tables stationed by the skate ramp. I took a run the other night and there was a game going. 

Speaking of running, I will also be able to run my old route. You know, the one I used to run when I lived at mom and pops when I was in high school? 

God is good.

We are blessed.

And all is well in the neighborhood. Mary Ellen said so herself! The lady across the street who brought us chicken and potato salad a few days into our move. 

Levi and I met her and her dog Teddy about a week ago. Leaves was a huge fan of Teddy…giggling and pulling at his poor hair.

And Diana introduced herself to us the other day as well. She has three refrigerators nestled in her driveway. Can we say Manassas?

I’m thinking those refrigerators are where she keeps her beers that she said she would invite us over for, to have in her backyard. 

This neighborhood is peaceful. 

And good for this moment.

Goodbye to six years of Handerson happiness...I remember when we first bought this place.

This is Isaac being goofy in the elevator getting the last of our stuff.

A rainbow happened to fall when we were making the last of the move. How relevant!

This is our new home on Windsor. A few pics to follow, but much still to be done.

A happy man in his back yard with his new lawn mower. Look at that space we got!

Patio.

Lots of room to play now!

Somebody is walking already.

And Grandma came to visit this week!

The two best grandmas in the world to Levi!

A Revelation on Being with Christ

Carrie and I have morning chats on my drive into work during the week days. Sometimes we use them as venting sessions (lol) and sometimes we just talk about struggles and our relationships with God.

The other morning when we talked, she said a few days back that she was talking to one of the doctors at the hospital (which she often does in her job as a nurse) - and that he always talks about God in their conversations. And she said he was talking about being with Christ. That we should work to be in tune with Him always. Constantly meditating and praying and being aware of Him in our lives.

I agree.

But when she said this, a light bulb clicked in my mind.

Yes, we need to be with Christ. And talk to Him and meditate on His word etc.

But what if there was another kind of "being" with Him? A state of which our physical decision-making processes represented another way to "be" with Him.

Some people struggle with drugs like cocaine, with alcohol abuse, porn and sexual addictions, or perhaps shopping, coffee, BLOGGING, or Facebook. There is more than one one "drug" out there, if you know what I mean.

As my mother-in-law said yesterday morning when we woke to start the day "coffee is our drug of choice!"

What does it mean to be with Christ?

Should we...mentally be with him? Emotionally? Spiritually? YES!

But how about in the physical realm?

My mom doesn't drink wine. Not because she gets drunk when she does, but because she doesn't want anything to hinder her relationship with Christ.


This, and she, is a great example of a walking, living, and breathing Christ-life dedication.


I read a book a few years ago called "The Discipline of Grace" and what it taught me was that I needed to physically remove certain things from my life in order to allow God's grace in.

How can I receive it when gunk is in the way that shouldn't be there?

Choosing to physically remove things that were not good for me turned out to be a blessing. And I felt like I was physically giving myself to Him, as I should have been all along.

I began, one after the other, to shut off, close, remove, and unlock the chains to several things that were standing in the way of living a free and open relationship with my Father.

My mind, heart and spirit had been with Him. Emotionally, I could feel Him. Spiritually, I knew He was there, for I was crying out to Him every day.

But physically, my life was gunky. Polluted. And in turn, it was messing with all the other realms of my relationship with Him and those I loved.

As that light bulb went off the other day, it reminded me again of that time in my life when I exposed my vulberabilities and failures and found Truth.

It reminded me that just because I did it once, does not mean I don't have it to it again.

I must die daily.

I want to be with Him in everything that I am. Not just spiritually in prayer and devotion, but in my outward appearance, actions, choices, through my lips, my ears, and eyes, and as a filter of good things into my home.

It's a daily decision and a daily cry for guidance, and even though I struggle do it I know He is with me.