Hearth and Home

We have been on a continual hunt for a suitable home, and we have found one we love.  It's difficult to explain to people how we make decisions like these, especially when it's 40% logic and 60% "sight".  There were a few places we liked but would only be temporary fixes or more costly than needed.  The one we chose and pray we'll get...we could see in it.  I saw the spare room filled with a crib and soft baby things.  Tristan saw us living there for a long time with our children.  I could see the gardens grow, the stove sizzling with food, the pantries filled....a lot of people actually can and do "see" these things when they shop for a home, but for us it is something deeper.

Home.  One of the least stable factors in my life.  While registering for gifts it is difficult at times to think that anyone would or could afford such things that are a luxury, like soft Egyptian cotton or bone china.  But what I do decide on is what I want for my family.  To be able to tuck our little ones into soft, warm beds or to be able to make Tristan healthy and delicious meals with tools that are natural from this earth is something that I yearn for.  To have a home that we will stay in for as long as God allows.....that would be a great gift in life.

Tristan is going over to the home today with his adoptive father to see what repairs need to be done on the outside of the house.  We found some rotting along the outer windowsills that have them worried, Tristan especially.  He says that in the winter we could be paying far more in heating costs than necessary should the cold air seep through the windows.  I said that he likes a cold room anyways, and I registered for down blankets so we'd stay warm.

"That's foolish."  Tristan's eyes narrowed a bit.

"I've never lived in a well-insulated home in my entire life," I explained, "well, maybe with the exception of the one apartment building.  But no matter how much we caulked and insulated and lined, there was always a draft, and it was always colder.  So we bundled up.  What you're looking at is a luxury I can do without."

And then in my mind flashed what he was more worried about, and it made me smile and concede that rotting windowsills are a concern.  All I'd been thinking about was how many quilts equal comfortable warmth, while Tristan was seeing images of his pregnant wife trying to stay warm in the middle of a freezing house.  For him it's not just survival anymore.  It's a man's duty to keep his family's best interests in mind.

At least, that's what I think flashed through his mind.  I like to think so.  :)