Shine Home Love Series

Today I’m sharing on the Shine Your Light blog about an area of our home that I love. Lisa’s new Shine Home Love series is about loving your home in its “as is” state, even though there may be a list a few miles long of home improvement/DIY things you’d still like to accomplish. With all the beauty out in the Blogosphere, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. it’s easy to struggle with daily contentment in our home places. We have been in our home 13 years last month, and I can definitely relate! ( leaking ceilings, old worn hardwood floors, carpet, etc…Not that I’ve noticed or anything….HA. ) I wrote a post last year for Porch.com about My Favorite Space in Our Home, which was our wrap around porch. You can read that post here, if you’d like. It’s still true another year later….our porch is still my favorite space in our home!

When we found our house all those years ago, our 3 boys were little and we knew we wanted a large yard for them to play in. We found a house that was in the early stages of being built, but none of the custom materials had been chosen, and it had a big yard in a rural community- complete with cows and farmland right behind us. But the selling point for me was the large wrap around porch. I LOVED it! 

This space in our home has seen many seasons of life and is special to me for many reasons. One of those is that it is a great place to talk and catch up with family and friends, but it is also a refuge and place to be quiet with your thoughts. I love both of those depending on the day or what’s going on in my life. 

Our porch has seen happy and hard times, heard secrets and future plans, and has seen changes in seasons weather related and in our lives. 

Holidays have been celebrated and many meals have been eaten and shared with friends and family in this favorite space of our home over the years. I have loved talking with my parents while rocking on the porch and having lunch or dessert and coffee with them.

Our 2 Weimaraners also love time spent on the porch, looking at the birds, squirrels, and passing neighbors. It is a joy to hear the birds sing and the fountain burbling with these precious canine friends! They are such loyal companions and we learn alot from them about slowing down and enjoying life’s simple pleasures. Just look at those faces…..

Maybe another reason our porch is my favorite “room” in our home is that it’s really a pretty low fuss area to maintain. Fresh paint every so often, new outdoor fabrics when I need a change, and seasonal plants refresh and renew this outdoor space easily. We are fortunate in Atlanta to be able to enjoy our porch for the majority of the year, which is another perk.

Through the seasons and over the years, our porch has been a source of comfort and joy and we consider it our favorite space because of all the sweet memories it has brought us. We have watched little boys turn into young men and head to high school and college, share life’s blessings and burdens with friends and family, receive wisdom and attempt to give it, and have spent many quiet moments with God in this space. It has been a spot for first kisses and guitars strummed and games played.This space has been so much to so many. 

 I hope you’re inspired to love-the-home-you’re-with and maybe view things in a new light in your own homes while reading Lisa’s great series! To read how more bloggers are doing the same, make sure you check out Lisa’s blog, Shine Your Light. 😉

xoxo