One more.

Last birthday post I promise...but this one is a little different.

Chad and I looked for our house for a long time. We lived in a family owned townhouse for about the first 2 years of our marriage, at times sharing it with his grandmother and for nearly a year, his sister. I have no complaints about those years. It allowed us to save up money to buy a house, taught us a lot about family and love, and showed us that God's provision sometimes doesn't look like we expect it to.

We looked at a lot of houses.
Let me rephrase that. PAULA looked at a lot of houses. Chad's work schedule at the time (mainly, his lack of time off or a flexible schedule) did not really allow him to look at many houses with me. We would find ones we wanted to see and I would go with the real estate agent to look. If it passes the first test (me!), then we would make a second appointment to go back and look at it together. It really worked best for us because we were able to rule out a lot of stuff that would have just frustrated Chad and I really enjoyed the process. (If I ever have a major career change, I'll become an interior designer.) We kept coming back to the St. Elmo neighborhood for a long list of reasons, some we were sure about and some that I am sure was God leading us in the right direction.

We bought this house over 3 years ago and have been gaining some lovely relationships ever since. I am absolutely 100% convinced that we could have ended up somewhere else - there were a few other houses that I really liked - but 10000% convinced that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

We have some of the most amazing neighbors. A sweet couple across the street that have 2 year old twins and share Chad's love of running. The awesome couple in the purple house that know exactly what is going on in the neighborhood - and who trade books about Jesus back and forth with us and sent me chocolate and a sweet card for my birthday. The family up the hill that has sons that have bonded with Chad and all of whom I truly consider family...that that bestowed the sweetest birthday present on me today. An awesome bag full of goodies - homemade soaps (oh Lordy - they smell delicious and make me want to be more dedicated to my Pinterest crafts), a sweet Origami book with gorgeous paper, a hysterical Pez dispenser, and an absolutely fantastic candle from a little boutique in town- which they know I wanted because they saw me post it on Facebook.

It isn't that my affection can be purchased. Gifts isn't even my love language! It IS the fact that these people that make our house more a HOME every day are a small piece of the puzzle of why I deeply believe God put us exactly where we are supposed to be.

This week has been so eye opening. I have been trying to hard to be mentally more aware of my blessings (I picked a good week to start, right??), be more intentional with my time, more thoughtful and more thankful. And truly, tears are pricking my eyes because I can see it! God is everywhere and involved in everything.

The sweet purple house neighbors included this verse in my birthday card and here it is from the Message "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go..." Proverbs 3: 5-6a