Houses

 Feels like this is what He's building us:

Which is OK!  See, look there on the side: He's added us what looks like a stage for a Punch 'n' Judy show or something.  How well He knows us!

That's our backyard pool and pool table off the dining room of this new house, and the awesome park a walk away... (Which make palatable the fact that we're living in a city with no room for the children to run!) 

And that must be a master suite up there on top! He knows how Dan and I need that!

We have an extra large bedroom and an embarrassingly palatial bathroom and walk-in closet here... (Which compensates for the fact that the price of living here leaves no funds for date nights out.)

 Extra storage on the back comes in handy; we always need more storage.

A three-car garage and good closet space for everyone... (Makes up for the fact that, for the first time in twenty years we have no outbuildings or barns for storage.) 

And the whole thing is a blank canvas to go crazy with paint.  How good He is to nourish our artistic muse with a challenge!

It's a whole new way of living in this desert climate near a big city! (The novelty of this way of life and the mild climate helps distract us from the fact that we no longer live in our beloved home state of Colorado...)

And wheels!  Who would have thought of that, right?

We've moved four times in four years!  And, though God keeps His cards close to His vest, we don't expect to be here in Nevada for terribly long.  Surely not forever, anyway.  I hope...

 No way I would ever have  purposely chosen to be such Gypsies, but God is the cruise director on this vagabond journey.  And He apparently has decided that the Davises need wheels... So who am I to argue?  It's a pretty nice Gypsy Caravan He's building for us. He's provided everything we need -- and some things we didn't know we needed.

In all our movings back and forth, we've learned, more than anything, what "home" really means.  It's not about a place at all, but it's about the people we love, the culture, ideas, memories, knowledge, and traditions we carry with us wherever we go.  It's the stability of our Faith, and, most especially, the warmth and safety of knowing we're in the loving hands of our Father in Heaven no matter where we are.  And that home is really where He is.  These are all things which we may have known in a philosophical way had we stayed in the same house our whole lives, perhaps.  But, having been moved around so much in the last few years, we know the truth of these things concretely and actually.  It's been a hard lesson to learn sometimes, but its long term value for our hearts and souls could not have been gained any other way. It's all good.  Thanks, God.

The new digs.