Houses and Memories
The home in Ruston where we raised our family is for sale. It has been remodeled and I suppose a family will soon be filling its rooms. Even today, 12 years later, I remain amazed at the grace God poured over us to let it go. It was my pride and joy. The photo above was taken around the time of our last Christmas in the house. The boys had spent the afternoon throwing a football in the front yard. The house itself was old and not like any other. That's partly why I loved it. I was thankful to have the gift of time...time to slowly go through all the "things".... the furniture and dishes and all that a family collects over many years. Since our momma lived in the cottage behind us, there were her things to go through as well. Even my elementary school artwork had remained with her stored items.
I remember the morning I took Louie out for a walk much earlier than usual. As we came around the driveway headed to the big grassy area at the east side of the house, an enormous pine tree cracked loudly and fell. It was a powerful spectacle to see along with the sound of it hitting the ground. The big tree stripped a portion of one of the crape myrtles we had planted to line the curved driveway in front of the house. It wasn't long before little crape myrtle sprouts appeared. As the years have passed and we occasionally drive by the old house, it has been fun to observe how those sprouts of trees have grown. All the others still hold their place but that one has a family of little trees round about it.
Memories like that one are planted deep in my heart. Besides the ones that are full of joy like those of holidays and parties and laughter, there are the hard ones... illness and sadness, pain and loss. But even as that tree was stripped and raw on one side, more trees grew because of it. God can bring fresh life from our sufferings.
Reviewing and sharing our memories can bring healing to us. I suppose they are some sort of teacher, and we get to keep them even when we no longer live in the place where they were given to us. Well, I'm getting lost in my thoughts now... so I'll close this post.
God bless you, new owners of 1701 East Georgia Avenue. May God's grace cover you and fill your home with the gift of abundant memories.
When I shared with our three grown children that the house was for sale, Jonathan sent us all the following song, with an invitation to tears...tears from the years we had with a house that built our family.
5 smaller trees can be seen between these two. February 4th, 2026
The crape myrtles still line the driveway. February 4th, 2026
