Home is Where . . . ?

I found this on my desktop. Sometimes past Alyssa really messes with present Alyssa. :)
This was typed up and was meant to be posted a couple weeks ago but was somehow forgotten. So please enjoy this "two week old post"!

Last week I received my employment and travel card!!! It's not my Green Card, but it basically gives me all the benefits of having it a little early. I can start to work in the States and I can now travel back home to Canada. 

My parents went on vacation this week and so I had the privilege of coming to Canada and hanging out with my brother all week. It's been a blast! We've enjoyed snacks from the Bulk Barn and Arrested Development marathons in our sweatpants almost every night. I've also been able to go back to the CH houses I used to work in to visit the individuals and staff in addition to a handful of coffee/lunch dates with friends and family. Did some shopping at my favourite Canadian stores and ate at some of my favourite Windsor restaurants. Sounds like a pretty great week, right? 

It was pretty great. But it was also pretty hard.

It was hard being away from my new husband. We spent our entire relationship doing the long-distance thing, so how hard could it be to spend 5 days apart? 

I felt this odd sense of being out of place all week. Like I didn't belong. Like this wasn't my home anymore. For the last four months I have been thinking of Portage as my "new home" and Windsor as my "real home". The suspense of sitting and waiting for my card was like torture. I ached to go HOME. But now that I was here, it didn't seem like I was at home. I was confused. 

Maybe God needed me to learn this tough reality this week - that Windsor really wasn't my home anymore. Somehow I just couldn't come to terms with this. 

But the real treat was when Luke got there on Friday. It was reminiscent of the three years that we spent apart. Of the anticipation of his arrival and the flood of joy when I heard that doorbell ring. And it happened just the same way that weekend - and we held each other like we had been apart for months. And all of a sudden I felt the peace I had been missing. I felt the quiet comfort I was used to. I felt…. home?

The truth of it is that this whole time it was never the place that made me feel like home. It was him. His warmth, his light, his love - that's what makes me feel "at home". 

I have struggled with the "leave and cleave", but this was a huge step in the right direction. Since the day that we vowed before God and family and friends, HOME has been where my husband is. And that's where I belong.

 Sunday afternoon tennis game

Mom and Luke vs. Dad and Lukie

I know this shot is blurry, but it just warms my heart. 

How can you not smile when you see this??

HOME.

Seed Sowing

My Prince Charming came to me last week and told me he decided that he needed to step up and be a stronger spiritual leader. (What a guy!!!) So Saturday night we laid in bed as he read the ENTIRE book of Ecclesiastes to me. Yes. The entire thing. Again, I have to say - what a guy! :)

There were a couple thoughts that stuck out to me - one of them from chapter 10 verse 18...
     "If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks."

The other came a chapter later in 11 verse 6...
     "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle,
     for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that,
     or whether both will do equally well."

These are some thoughts I find myself reflecting on as I prepare for my second month of learning to NOURISH.

Luke and I love to discuss our days over the dinner table. I love getting to tell him about what I accomplished at home while he was at work. I show him the things that I create, clean, and cultivate! :) However, we all know that some days are more productive than others...

So what about those self-proclaimed "lazy days"? What about those days where I sit and watch tv instead of cleaning the bathroom? Or when I waste a couple hours online rather than spending a couple hours organizing our basement?

I have decided to take up these verses as a challenge : 

To start every single day in the Word - the days that I find the least productive are the days I choose to begin with "non-eternal things". If I offer the first fruits of my day to the Lord, I know He will bless the rest! 
I want to NOURISH my soul.

To "sow my seed in the morning, and not allow my hands to be idle in the evening" - even if I have a super productive day, when Luke gets home, I slow right down. I want to continue my work through the evening, because perhaps those seeds will bloom even more than the daytime ones! 
I want to NOURISH the seeds that I sow.

To not just focus on our physical house and rafters, but our emotional ones as well - if we don't maintain our house, it will begin to sag and leak. If we don't maintain our marriage, it will also begin to sag and leak. I pray that my relationship with Luke will never grow lazy or idle. That we would never just "go through the motions", but that we would be purposeful and intentional about everything we do and everything we say. 
I want to NOURISH our love.

In other news, I am getting better at cooking!! aka - I want to NOURISH our bodies with beautiful, healthy foods!

strawberry banana muffins

ham macaroni and cheese (recipe compliments of Auntie!) 

my first attempt at a bolognese sauce - it turned out well! :)