The Healing Love of Home

When I went to the LaZboy event last week, I thought a lot about what HOME means to me as I created my living room design.   I put a lot of “game decor” in my space to inspire fun family time together. 

After I had designed my room, they interviewed me sitting on the couch and explaining how I put my room together.  I explained how important home and family are to me, even more so since we adopted our daughter, Sania Louise, this year. 

Watching how much family and home means to Sania Louise has been priceless.  

HOME has always meant so much to me.  I remember the peace I felt each time I walked through the doors of my home as a child, with smells of mom making dinner and sounds of dad watching the news in the den  I remember waking up on Saturday morning and smelling the delicious aroma of bacon and eggs and then snuggling back under my warm covers for just a few more minutes of rest. 

Home was my safe place and always warmed my heart.  Even in college, when I went home to visit my parents, it was like I could just breathe easier and sleep better there. :)

And once I was married and had a home of my own, it still did not replace that feeling of going home to “mom and dad’s.”  There truly is “no place like home.”

Jonathan and Cy were in California last week for four days and got back late Sunday night.  When Jonathan came in the front door he said, “MAN!  It feels so good to be home!”

As they came in and begin unpacking and hugging the rest of us, Jonathan said a few more times….”Mom, I love home.  There’s just no place like it.”

My heart smiled because I knew exactly what he meant.

And my heart smiles every day when I tuck Sania Louise in bed at night.  We hug and kiss and read stories.  Sometimes we laugh and tickle and tell scary stories.  Sometimes we pray together, and sometimes I get right in the bed with her to snuggle. 

And Sania LOVES IT!

When I shut the door to her room at night, my heart is happy knowing that she feels loved and safe.   Waking her up in the morning is just as special.  I love to sing, “Good morning to you.  Good morning to you.  Good morning, Sweet Sania.  Good morning to you.”  (in the tune of happy birthday)

She always looks up at me with squinty eyes and with elbows above her head in a drawn-out stretch.  She is usually groggy, sweaty, and completely adorable.  I tell her she can watch cartoons on the couch while I make breakfast.  She’ll then head to the den, grab an afghan and pillow, and lay on the couch.   After breakfast, she gets ready for school. 

Routine. Consistency.  Security. 

Many times in the evening, she would rather stay home than go out.  “I wanna stay home,” she’ll insist.  I love that she loves home. 

Okay.  Did I ever share this picture on my blog?  I think I did?  It CRACKS ME UP every time I see it.  Shortly after we brought Sania home in July, I had to put her in her room because she was misbehaving.  About 10 minutes later, I hear her laughing her head off, and I thought, “Well, she is having a lot of fun in time-out!”

When I opened the door, I found this…she was stuck and laughing uncontrollably!   LOVE THIS GIRL!!

I shared how well Sania was doing with her doctor this week, and she was amazed at all the things I told her.  She said that Sania is adjusting more rapidly than a lot of adopted children do, and I agreed.   

It has been a beautiful thing to watch.  And I marvel at the healing abilities of family and home.  

 

*As I wrote this post, I thought of my friends (and even family members) that had a different experience  with family and home as I did.  And I am sure that there are some of you reading this right now that have scars on your heart because of things that happened in your home.  Home can sometimes not be a place of healing, but a place of brokenness.  

Psalms 34:17,18

Yet I do know this…God is the healer of all our brokenness, and he can fill your heart with peace in ways that no home or family ever could.  And although your childhood home may have been a place of pain and hurt, God can give you the strength and wisdom to make your home now a place of healing and joy.  That is my prayer for all of you.

xoxo,

Traci

29 Comments

  1. It makes my heart happy to hear that Sania louise is so well adjusted to her new family not only the ppl she lives w but i have heard she is fond of aunt cyndi as well which is such a gift to her she got a complete family who loves hers. Such a blessing

  2. How beautiful to hear how Sonia Louise is doing. I love your beautiful sense of family and I ask the a Lord to continue to Bless you. The picture of her stuck in the bed is a keeper and will bring tears of joy when she becomes an adult.

  3. I teared up at your words about the special feeling about home, home with mom and dad. While I loved making a home for my husband and four kids, and they’re all grown and gone now, I still feel that way about my childhood home and sometimes wish I could go back there where it was so safe. And now I think wistfully about our home when my kids were little. Precious memories and great blessings from God. Life is good.

    1. Oh Sue! I would give anything for just one day in my childhood home! Such a feeling of peace! I was also thinking of how I would love to be my six year old self at church with mom. I used to lay my head in her lap during “big church” and she would rub my hair while she listened to the pastor. My heart was at such rest and drifting off to the sound of God’s word filled my heart with inexplainable joy! I know your children have the same beautiful memories of their childhood home as well. Life is good. God bless you!!

  4. What a blessing to read your blog today. Your children are blessed to have you as a mom and its a testimony of how your Mom raised you. :) I too had the security and love and feelings you shared about, but many don’t. I know those of you who foster and/or adopt will have a special jewel for your crown in heaven, as what a wonderful thing to do. Sania is so blessed to be loved so deeply. :) Please pray for a friend of mine who tonight in our church life group asked for prayer, as she feels the Lord leading her to open up some type of home to house kids waiting for foster and/or adoption. She has had many foster children in her home now and has adopted one of them and has a heart for kids. :) She wants to do the Lord Will.

    1. Hi Kathy! Thank you for your kind words. I am praying for your friend right after I send this comment. God bless her for her loving and giving heart! xoxo

  5. I love this post. Being a stay at home mom I always want to create a safe place that is inviting, cozy and a haven where the best memories can be made. Adoption is so close to my heart having just brought or second miracle though adoption home this week. I love to read about the close bond of other families and adoption success stories. A lot of times healing is environmental more than anything. Your a amazing mom Traci!

  6. I did not grow up with this, and I feel lost even as an adult. So many times I’ve longed and wondered what it would have been like to grow up in that environment. I find it challenging to do it well for my own family. They probably don’t feel it, but I struggle with wondering if I’m instilling the sense of home enough for them, or am I just offering chaos all the time. It’s hard. But I do so love that verse, and I KNOW Who my Daddy is. And I know that He’s healing me through the process of building my own home.

    1. Hi BJ! Thank you for your honest and real comment. Praise the Lord that you know HIM and are letting Him continually heal him. :). My mom grew up with an alcoholic father and had some difficult times as a child, but she trusted the Lord to help her create the home that HE would have her to for her family. The fact that you are wondering if you are instilling the sense of home for them, means that you are doing it. :). Otherwise, you wouldn’t care. You just keep your eyes on Him and don’t be too hard on yourself. My mom always said that God has a soft spot in his heart for moms because He knows all the we do. God bless your beautiful heart. xoxo Traci

  7. I just love this!!!! Your whole story has actually got my husband and I doing some thinking. :) And I know exactly what you mean about going home. My parents have been in the same home since I was 10. The second I step in that door I feel immediate peace and happiness.

    1. Melanie, thank you so much! May God give you and your husband peace and wisdom and you are “thinking.” ;)
      God bless you!

  8. What a beautiful “Redeeming” post ……. Your story never ceases to amaze me…. How God so loved you and your family… HE truly caused Joy to triumph!!!! HOME and FAMILY are truly a treasure !!!!!

  9. I love your heart in this post Traci. We adopted 2 boys from Thailand 20 years ago. The home we have had with them all these years is more than I could imagined. God is so good. We are beyond blessed. ❤️

    1. That is awesome! I love boys. (wink). They have a special place in this boy mom’s heart. :)
      God IS SO GOOD! Bless your family! xoxo Traci

  10. Can I just tell you that you and your family have come up in conversation a lot lately around my home! During the past few weeks as I listen to your Instastories, my kids will walk by and ask if that’s my friend Traci? Your accent is a dead giveaway! Although we have never met and live across the country from one another, I feel like you’re my friend. I’ve followed your blog from the beginning, back when you had your Wanda Wednesdays. I’ve loved seeing your family grow. I’ve prayed for your family as you faced difficulties in adopting Sania. Thanks for sharing these heartwarming experiences about your home and family. Thanks for sharing your faith and testimony. May God continue to bless you and your family!

    1. Can I just tell you that your comment blessed my day in a BIG way! It blesses me to pieces that you have been following our journey for so many years, and you are still here. hahaha! Sometimes blogging can be a very lonely adventure on the other side of this computer, but comments like yours make it all worth while! And we ARE friends, and if we ever meet in person one day, we will hug and have a blast together. :). Thank you for blessing me today! xoxo Traci

  11. I am so very happy that all has worked out so wonderfully with your family and the adoption of Sania Louise. I followed your story and I am amazed at the perseverance you showed and the belief that everything would work out, and it did! God is amazing!

    1. Thank you so much, Hilary! We are so grateful that God has been with us this whole time. It was a difficult journey, and at times, I doubted what in the world we were doing. But God has been so faithful and there is no doubt that we were meant to be Sania Louise’s family. :). God bless you! Traci

  12. Traci, I stumbled across your blog a number of years ago looking for shower ideas. You had posted some pictures of Colt’s baby shower that I believe your sister had in her home. I was instantly captured by the name of your blog because my mother was adopted and she always loved the poem; “Not flesh of my flesh Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculously my own, Never forget for a single minute You grew not under my heart, But in it.” Your “Beneath my Heart” reminded me instantly of that poem and so I subscribed that day and have enjoyed your posts ever since. My Grandparents were wonderful people that gave my mother everything she needed to flourish and become a wonderful mother herself. She was a loving, caring, woman that loved God and her family with all her heart and soul. She created a home where we all felt safe, loved, and special and we were each truly Mom’s favorite. She taught us all to know Jesus, to give of ourselves, to love one another, and to be strong independent responsible adults. I can’t even tell you how privileged I feel to have been her child and I hope I have instilled those same feelings in my own children. God bless you, Cy and the boys for welcoming this beautiful little girl into your lives. It is truly a testament to your “Mothering” that your boys have been so welcoming to this darling child, especially Eli. Thank you for sharing this journey with all of us. xoxo, Deb

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *