Little House On The Schoolyard

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way."  2 Thessalonians 3:16


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For years I've meant to show you something.

Here it is, on the back route to our movie theater. The Little House On The Schoolyard --

(From the other side of the street, this all looks odder.)

It's the only house on this side of two long blocks, in fact, another school, an older one, is at the left, across the street. (Can you imagine the congestion during mornings and afternoons?!)

Always as we drive past, this makes me smile. 

Why? Because--every time--I picture city men in suits, in 2006, stepping up to the door, then telling the owners, "Now, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. We've mailed you many notices that a school is being built here. We've offered you a generous amount of money to move. Your neighbors are moving. What's the hold up?"

Which makes the couple scowl, and the husband growl, "We built this house and we're staying! I carried my wife over this threshold and we raised our children here. No one's forcing us off our land. Get it straight--We're. Not. Moving."

And of course, part of me admires anyone willing to go against The Man. It takes guts to do that, guts which, most days, I don't have.

Another part of me wonders what Tom and I would've done in that leave-your-house! situation. Knowing us, we'd, most likely, have snatched up the stipend and eagerly called the moving van. A new adventure in a blank-slate home--whoopee!

But of course, many people would've fought.

Many folks go all rabid-loyal about their homes, declaring, "You'll have to carry me out feet first!". And I understand that--I do. But, seriously, I can't imagine feeling that way, myself, in this temporary world. 

Yet one thing I know for certain. I must always ask God first how He feels. Why? Because if I do the opposite of that, my peace phhht! Floats away. And what a horrible thing to live without peace. 

What I've seen? If, in this case, God nudged us to move--and we did--we'd have peace in the new home place. And if He asked us to stay, we'd have peace there, too. Yes, and even much grace, as well, while living in a little house on the schoolyard.

But here's my confession: I'd really be hoping God wanted  us to move away someplace else.  😃

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Speaking of houses, oooooo.... Here's a mansion which was abandoned 50 years ago with its possessions left behind.

Which--in a way--reminds me of one estate sale Tom and I attended in a lovely colonial home. All of the beautiful possessions were still there! Clothes, dishes, shoes, furniture, cosmetics, books, paintings. Each room, including the two children's bedrooms, looked as though the family had simply walked away one night.

Eerie, really. But oh, other than that, this was the house of my dreams (down to the choice of wallpaper and paint) and I walked up the stairs, and down, as though inside a dream.

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