Childhood Home

Standing on the steps of the old town hall in the hamlet of Whitechurch, I gaze across the street and glimpse my childhood home. It felt rather strange to be looking at the house where I spent the first 23 years of my life. After being gone for 12 years it's almost easier not to see the old home.

This is the view of the front of the house.

This sign is the saddest reminder of days gone by. A running joke, and yet it hurts. This sign post used to host a sign that advertised my father's cabinet keeper business. Over the years I have seen this sign frame hold clothes for a garage sale or just remain bare. And I only have one question... why has the sign post never been removed.

Here is the view I spotted from the steps of the town hall. My bedroom was the second one in from the top left... I wonder if it is still a pastel pink room with green and brown carpet.

And this is papa's shop - a place where we spent many hours using our hands and some fun equipment to build wooden things of beauty. The smell of sawdust still brings happy memories to my mind.

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of your deeds."
Psalm 73:23-28
Celebrating 25 years of marriage with neighbours I used to babysit for was a blast. Being invited over to an older set of next door neighbours was quite cozy, but as converstations continued it was hard to hear that so many of the people that are a part of my precious memories have passed on. A few have moved away, but the village will never be what I remember it to be... a small community with only forty houses, and very few kids. My brothers and I spend endless hours together, roaming free around the village... and loving every minute of it.
But the Lord has led us all down different paths, away from the hamlet and in to the suburbs. Thankfully I can delight in the Lord... He will always be my Home away from home. My shelter from the storm. My resting place.