My Driveway is a Freeway

My door is revolving and my driveway is a crazy freeway...which is actually a dusty dirty driveway.  There are days I just laugh....it is normal...I think...when you  have a large family that involves teenage drivers for the door to be swinging and the driveway to be busy.  But, it is a little crazier than that...there are literally days and nights when I have lost track of who has come and gone and how many times.  The funny thing is I totally enjoy it..I get a bit tired at times, but that is usually when I've decided to "control" the house or try to make things look a certain way and that all goes out the door when the 15th pair of shoes is sitting at the front door.  I enjoy it to pieces when I just give all that up and enjoy each person as they come through that door sometimes of a second and sometimes for several months stay.  We have a really bad squeak in our front door and I refuse to have Charlie fix it, because then at least I can sometimes hear the comings and goings and in the night it is very common to hear that door squeak at all hours...several times, and it actually gives me peace to know that "whoever" was out and about has made it home...I can't exactly require some adult people to check in with me when they arrive home....as I do my own children, so the squeak provides peace that one more chick has made it back to the nest.

I prayed a prayer as I was walking up my driveway/freeway a few years ago actually...it was when we knew things were going to get rougher and rougher to keep up our mortgage and live on this property and we were praying about what to do, and how to solve our problem, and I changed my prayer...I prayed that whatever God could use with us and this property that it would Glorify Him and that He could somehow use this place for His Glory....I didn't know if that meant selling. losing, or keeping it, but I was tired of trying to figure it out...so I just asked Him to do "whatever"...just make it "count" somehow.

He has NOT solved our mortgage issues yet, but I can tell you He is using this place...it's not a beautiful haven of calmness and meditation...quite the opposite, but it is a place that ANYONE can come ANYTIME and the door is open, and hopefully there are cookies in the cookie jar to share.  Everything we have has been given to us by God and so it is ours ONLY to share and be used.

I have been asked numerous times "how long" some of our guests are staying, and I never ask...I never know, and I don't care....they are here as long as they need to be and I never ask why they need a place to stay or try to figure out if they "qualify" for needing a place...we never talk about money, we never charge to stay here, but I can tell you, in every way... the blessing we receive from each of them FAR AND ABOVE outweigh any sacrifice we may be giving on our end.  The blessing comes in different forms and times from each of them, and it always is perfect and a huge unexpected blessing, they all have their own way of giving back.

With each guest they bring their gifts and their talents and as I sit here and type this I'm listening to a CD that was made by Catrina, one of our long-term house guests that has since moved on and I'm sooooo glad to know this talented young lady and I'm so thrilled that the Lord allowed us to be her family and her home while she needed one.  I could say the same thing about each of the folks that have stayed with us.

We have no idea how long we will be here at this place but for NOW...God has us here and He has brought many others HERE....so while we are all here we will just enjoy this place and one another and hopefully make a difference and use what has been given to us and Glorify our Lord.