Once Upon a Time....

Once upon a time there was a little log home that was lovingly named A Place Called Simplicity....

Anything but fancy....at only 2,011 square feet (half the size of our previous home), but still it had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (far more than most of the world).....yet somehow this little place was perfect!!! It was comfortable, cozy and simple!!In winter kept warm by the wood-burning stove.....It was a place where memories were made, family was encouraged, loved and respected....and little children came home from foreign countries forever....... Kids played......
Birthdays were celebrated...
Holidays were shared with boatloads of friends - all joined together for a day of fun....no matter how squishy...

Big kids came home from far away.....
Laughter filled the place.....

Treasured friends came to visit......like Bill & Lynsay who now live in Ch*na with all the babies.....
And sweet drums filled the air often...Little boys thought that broken screens were on purpose so they could climb thru them...

Evenutally a llllllong remodel....gutting the kitchen, moving windows, reconfiguring........

And even a new log staircase......
And then two more precious babies came home...FOREVER.....And two days after the above picture..........

And life would never quite be the same again.........

When I got to our little log home this past Friday for the demolition my precious friends were already there....trying so hard to dig up as many Day Lilies (one of my favorites ever) to move them for me. I had no idea!! That's Carie and Chelsea and Chelsea's little guy Josiah (same age as Elijah).

They were about to start the demolition and I finally took one of the last of my favorite little things out - a sweet little quilt. It was red and white and bits of blue, once upon a time...it hung at the top of the stairs, outside our bedroom, on our new log staircase....so sweet.....As I walked through the house I found that Emma had written on her bedroom walls a few days before......Elizabeth swept the porch....making sure it was tidy and clean (one last time)A tree had to come down to get the bulldozer over to the house....And Graham asked if he could smash some windows before it began......sort of a boys dream I guess....so Graham, Daddy, Emma and even Liberty threw rocks thru windows...I have often wondered as I watched Home Extreme Makeover how people really feel when they are watching their home destroyed in order to fulfill their dream/need of a new home? They seem to be smiling....I wonder if they are told "Smile, OR else!!"

For us: We prayed together as a group before they started. We asked for safety for Martin (our friend and the contractor doing the demolition) - that the Lord would restore all that had been taken.....and then it began.....We are thankful for our friends who came to support and be with us: Chelsea, Carrie, Mark & Jill....it made it so much more bearable. We could tell our sweet bloggy friends were praying too - really we could....
Notice the new log stair railing (put in while I was in Africa in December - it was so very beautiful) Loft wall blackened by smoke damage....(master bath to right of the two windows...that's tile shower wall and toilet on side).....

Martin gets out to check the dozer.... And it was gone.....

Days after the fire, Dw found Winston Churchill's quote in the house....and went to the front door and pounded it into the frame. It seems appropriate to end with it.....
WE will NOT give up....Thank you for your prayers. This week I will share what God spoke to me just before we left to see our log home demolished....