Top Ten Things I'll Miss the Most: Part 3

#8 – 8818 Flint Falls Dr

You have to know our history to fully understand.  David and I got married in college.  As marriage should be, after the “I Do’s” our parents kindly closed the proverbial bank accounts.  David was a full-time athlete, and I worked at a department store.  We certainly weren’t rolling in the dough; we barely had dough to eat.  After our cozy ghetto apartment in Norman, OK, we moved to a cozier locale in South Bend, IN.  When I say “cozier” I mean we lived in a dorm room while David worked on his master’s.  We went from ghetto to down-right poor.  I ate more Spaghetti O’s those few months than one should consume in a lifetime.  After Notre Dame, we moved to Dallas.  We had a one-bedroom apartment with the ultimate upgrade – crown molding – and thought we hit the jackpot! After the apartment, we did what “you’re supposed to do.”  We bought a small house that wasn’t what either of us really wanted but was within our slightly increased budget.  We no longer had the crown molding, and while we worked hard and made it our own, there was a smell in the hall bathroom that never really went away.  After a couple of years, we felt God calling us to do something a bit crazy.  We sold the house, put the furniture we’d acquired into storage and moved into 900 sq. ft. in the middle of downtown Dallas.  Our high-rise apartment wasn’t glamorous, but it was an experience we’ll never forget.  And it marked a turn in The Story of David & Regina.  It wasn’t what we were supposed to do; it was simply an act of obedience.  God asked us to be in the midst of the people He called us to reach, so we went.  After almost 2 years, we found out Brynna Bear was on the way, and thus, we needed some more space.  Buying a house this time was much different.  We had a little more knowledge and a lot more experience under our belts, so armed with our list of “wants,” we started the search.

Be it a house, spouse, job or new pair of shoes, we are all guilty of something.  You know you do it just like I do.  You have your list of “wants” – what you hope God will bless you with – and then you have in the back of your mind what you assume you’ll probably get.  Right?  Oh how wrong we are.  God doesn’t work like that.  He says very clearly, “Obey.  Do it My way and I will bless you beyond what you can imagine.”  Look it up.  It’s there over and over.  When David and I chose to obey in that small way – selling our house and moving downtown – we unleashed a blessing we didn’t fully comprehend before then.  That list of “wants” we had while driving around house-searching was what we could imagine.  God did more.

When we first saw what would become our house, I was not overly excited.  There was a huge room dividing the kitchen/dining area from the other side of the house with bedrooms.  It felt fractured.  There was an oddly shaped small den with a wet bar in the corner that didn’t seem to “go.”  The big room had wood-paneled walls and there were popcorn ceilings throughout.  It was like the 70’s had a bad day and this house was the result.  But David and I both saw potential.  We scraped the popcorn off the ceilings and painted that wood paneling.  After living there awhile, Tania (aka – Designer Extraordinaire) helped me rearrange some rooms so the odd den became a brilliant dining room.  The room that was so big we often didn’t use it, became the ultimate football-watching, domino-playing, kid-friendly place to lounge.  And did I mention the pool?  A pool was on the list of “wants.”  God’s answer above our imagination was a brand-new pool and deck with built-in shade umbrellas and a water feature.  We saved up and added outdoor furniture this past summer.  We have had pool parties, birthday pool parties and spontaneous people-just-come-over-because-there’s-a-pool parties.

We’ve lived a dozen places, but this is where we really became a family.  It’s where Brynna learned to crawl and walk.  It’s where she and her cousins swam with their floaties.  It’s where we had Real conversations with couples.  It’s where I loved on girls, and David bonded with guys.  It’s where we learned the art of hospitality – that when you are willing to give God full reign of your home, He will use it to bless you and so many others.  Yesterday as we looked at the bare rooms and the floors ready to host someone else’s furniture, I was sad.  Yes, it’s just a house.  But this house has been so much more. 

Ahh…but here’s the thing about obedience to God.  If you do it right, it’s addictive.  You learn that even in the pain or fear of doing something new, there’s peace that you are right where He wants you.  You remember that all of this is His.  You learn a new level of faith as you give up what you held dear and trust that He has something ahead that’s so much more than you can imagine.  God has once again asked us to be in the midst of a group of people to reach.  So as sad as it is for a moment, I will miss this house that was more blessing than I could have imagined because I refuse to miss a single thing God has in store for us.