“(Home) is a state of mind. A place of communion and unconditional love. It is where, when you cross its threshold, you finally feel at peace.”
— Dennis Lehane
Our next-door neighbors are coating their house with new colors this week. A comfy-cozy combination of ivory white on the body, mushroom on the windows, under skirting, and trim, and a soft, pistachio-meets-sage green on the porch ceiling. Bye-bye “Band-Aid” beige body…hello cotton-colored cutie!
I’ll have to ask Hayley if I can share another picture with y’all when the painters are done. Have I introduced you to Hayley and Bobby Jon yet? A low brick wall stretches from one corner of their property to the opposite corner of ours and it’s so nice to share our little chunk of the Earth with them. Bobby Jon dreamed up and organized the neighborhood fundraiser that helped us bring Steevenson home in August of 2016 and Hayley started making the prettiest jewelry a few years back too…right there in her kitchen. She named her business after their daughters and you can find all of her gorgeous creations online at VivianDrew.com.
(A Spring-toned sampling of Hayley’s creations)
And speaking of Springtime and refreshed bodies…
It’s Eastertide. What a powerfully sweet and deeply meaningful time of year for those of us who follow Christ! And there is so much more than pollen in the air, ya know? I see resurrection everywhere! Stiff, gray, winter branches sway like fluffy, green feather-dusters in the wind. And the lilies…the “white-robed apostles of hope”. I saw tiered rows of them, standing at attention, looking just like a little open-mouthed choir, blooming between the sliding glass doors at the supermarket. The same trumpet-shaped flowers that were found in the Garden of Gethsemane where drops of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow are springing up at Renfroe’s for under ten bucks. It’s neat how, sometimes, just walking past plants in pots can speak to your heart and settle your soul. For me, those big white blooms silently sing about a loving Father who came here, through His precious Son, to seek and to save us…so that, one day, you and I could forever be Home.
(photo: Sylleste Helms Davis)
And speaking of home…well, our earthly one, I mean…
On our road trip through the midwest late last year, Kevin asked me, “where is ‘home’ to you now?” My initial thought was Minnesota because that’s where I was born and raised but then I thought, no, it’s Alabama because that’s where I’ve lived with my sweetheart for the past 16 years. I took a moment longer to think about it though, because somewhere deep down in my knowns, it seems to me that home is really wherever I feel most like myself. Wherever I can just fully be. After all these years (and even right there in that RV) I feel like it’s wherever I’m wide open with my emotions and allow those around me to express theirs freely too. It’s a place below the surface of small talk and stiffness where I feel seen and heard and cherished. It’s in the person sitting beside me and my ability to talk to them. It’s meaningful interaction and empathy. It’s wherever I can laugh and cry and sing and feel and breathe and toot with abandon! Notice I didn’t put those last two in the opposite order. 😉
It’s not a place- it’s a perspective. A state of mind. A place of communion and unconditional love. It is where, when you cross its threshold, you finally feel at peace.
So here’s to home, and Home, and to the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and guards our hearts and our minds in Christ!
Layla
This is the most heartwarming post, I pondered too where I call home and you stated it perfectly for me, thank you for your daily stories on IG, it makes my day, and to know that I can survive in this world with the Grace of God with me. May you and your family have a blessed Easter holiday 🙂
Maybelline
Thank you so much, Maybelline! And happy Easter to you and yours too! 😀
Beautiful post, Layla 🙂
Warren and I don’t feel “at home” in our current place and yearn and long for a place that really feels like “us”. I realized on this trip up Florida we are on (Tarpon Springs), I personally feel like a southern historic home is what the inside of my heart looks like. 🙂 God knows!
Well you *know* I’d love to be your neighbor, so I’ll leave the light on for you, friend. 😉
Absolutely love this & the way & words you write & totally agree, thank you. Christ has risen, He has risen indeed!! 🙌🏼
Thank YOU, Loree! And happy Easter, my friend! 😀
Beautifully said Layla, I concur!
Hugs, Valarie! 😀
A beautiful reflection for this Easter weekend! May your family be filled with Christ’s joy, Miss Layla!
Hugs and happy Easter to you too, Faerie! 😀
You write beautifully. I love your blog. As an aside, please don’t have lilies in your home if you have cats. They are absolutely lethal, even a speck of the yellow part on their lips or whiskers. So many people including vets do not know this. I found out the hard way. Thank you. Love you!
Thank you, Kathy! And for the tip about Easter lilies and cats, too! XO
You are just the cutest Layla. I started following you from a suggestion from… oh my gosh I’m so sorry I can’t remember now Rita who lives in Canada. AnyWho , this is a precious blood post and I appreciate you. There’s no place like home. And there will be no place like HOME, when I get to see the holy one my sweetheart, my mom, my dad, and my brother. Happy Resurrection weekend
Love this,Layla! Keep on writing! What a gift you have. Easter blessings to you.
Home has changed a lot for me too. Like you, it used to be Nebraska where I grew up. But now it’s Colorado. And it’s increasingly wherever I’m at with my little family. I feel that I can only truly be myself around them and that’s just become so precious to me. Thanks for sharing your heart, dear friend. You are a gift and a light!
Happy Easter! He is risen indeed! How I look forward to being. HOME someday!
THIS is a beautiful heartwarming, loving post!!! Thank you for this! I truly enjoyed☮️
Lisa
Such a beautiful picture of home. I’m thrilled that you are walking through your season of anxiety. Your journey has been very in lightning. Thanks for sharing. Have a blessed Easter!
Love these words and your heart ! ❤️ Happy Easter !
Amen sister! You have such a beautiful way of looking at everything..
Layla, you are so endearing! Happy Easter!