Little House of Dreams on the Highway

 "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 

 I can do all things through him who strengthens me." 

Philippians 4:11-13

 Sometimes I imagine I am my favorite writer, the one my momma named me after, Laura Ingalls Wilder. She traveled all over the the country in a covered wagon and lived in lots of different kinds of places. She lived in a cabin in the woods, a little house on the prairie, in house made of dirt, and a townhouse to name a few.

  Then other times, I imagine I am my favorite character in literature, Anne Shirley. She was an eccentric child with head full of dreams. she filled up her imagination with all sorts of dreams and plans, but as she grew up, she saw those dreams turn out very different than she planned, but even better than she imagined. She and her best friend ended up falling in love and settling into their house of dreams.

Like my favorite character, I too, filled up my head with dreams and plans of what my life would be, and found the realization of them very different and better than my imagination of them. I too fell in love with a boy I never intended to and settled into my own house of dreams.

Like my favorite author,  I've lived in lots of different places too, Oregon, Washington, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri, to name a few. I've never traveled by covered wagon, or lived in a house made of dirt, but I lived in a church building once and took baths in the baptistry. Another time my family and I lived in a storage building, and once, my dad, brother and I spent a summer in an RV.  I've lived in apartments in the city and trailer houses in the country. I've lived in house with a tarp for a roof, and bare plywood for floors. I've had doors made out of blankets and walls that could be walked through. You might read of the places I've lived and things we did and think "poor girl!" but don't. Each of those places and each of those homes, no matter how meager, I remember quite fondly. each of those places and every awkward situation has taught me contentment.

With that said, today, I looked around my very own house of dreams, my little house of dreams on the highway, and thought to myself,   
  
"I live here. I really live here!" 


The house I live in is nothing spectacular by today's terms. It's just a little house made of brick. It's a regular American house with the regular American accommodations. It's not brand new, and it's right on the noisy highway. The floorboards squeak sometimes, and the roofs leaks occasionally. My bathroom is really small, and the utility bill is way too big. If you saw my house of dreams, you might laugh a little at my enthusiasm over it. You might not even really get it.  I'll admit, it does seem a bit silly that I should be so thrilled about living in such a modest little home in a modest little town, but my little house on the highway is a mansion to me. Sometimes I just look around it and smile. I could change so many things about my little house, but I can't complain. You could pity me I guess if you wanted to for the times I've had but don't. They aren't hard times to me, but adventures. They are adventures that have taught me how to appreciate  my little house of dreams on the highway. They have taught me how to say that I have learned how to be content in every situation. I know the secret of having abundance or being in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.