My kids were super excited to come to our home, but I kept telling them it wasn’t the Home we’d left. I’d seen at least glimpses of what the renters had done. I didn’t know the extent of the damage but at least I had an idea. It took me a full twelve hours to emotionally deal with my house once I arrived.
Yes, I was naive. I thought that someone could help me out while I helped them out. This renter was found through a ministry that helps people get back on their feet. It’s amazing how much damage can be done in only four months.
Several pieces of furniture were broken or stolen (or peed on). Caleb’s LEGO collection (he was super into legos until he was thirteen and a half and only got legos for all birthdays and Christmases) is gone. The back yard is all dug up and she seriously disturbed the neighborhood (luckily no one blames me and are just happy I’m back) … and the house smells as if they had been smoking in here for years; not just a few months and not just cigarettes.
My sister told me to think of it like a person who has lost their home in a hurricane.
That’s when I realized it. I didn’t lose my stuff to a hurricane. I still have most of my appliances. There are no holes in my walls and the house is “fairly” clean (aside from the smell and to be honest some of my friends cleaned it up a bit before I got home so I did miss the poop smeared walls and rotten food in the freezer). It could be much worse.
We are not at the home we left, but we are at a home that looks and feels a lot like our home. It’s better than staying with friends (except not having the friends here!), but to have our own space to spread out in. That’s a huge blessing.
I can do as much or as little right now in this house. I don’t have a bed, but I did end up bringing my RV with me so I do have a place to sleep, and quite frankly if I had a bed it would smell really gross and I wouldn’t sleep in it anyway. I can’t get a new bed right now for the same reason, I don’t want the smell to be reabsorbed in the bed. 
I can always fix it up in the spring if I don’t get around to it now. This is a vacation right?
Blessings
- I’m home
- My house is still standing
- I still have most of my stuff and I can always buy new stuff
- I will still receive a blessing for being a blessing – even if my renter didn’t accept the blessing (if that makes sense)
- I know I’ll always be taken care of because of my great friends and family.
- I get to have my own space and so do my kids and we are “home” for Christmas
Coming soon: Video of our trip so far soon to come…
Harmonie’s Corner
I was so excited to go and see Home. But when we got there it looked so much different then before.
They had a pit bull dog and it ruined lots of things. The dog scratched our bathroom door a bunch and ripped down our curtains. They smoked cigarettes and pot and did drugs and lied about it. So we had to put up a bunch of diffusers to get rid of the smell. We still need to scrub the walls.
I felt like we haven’t left in our RV trip yet. It’s very fun seeing my friends after I haven’t seen them for awhile. We didn’t have a star for our tree so I cut one out for it.
I am happy we are home.
