Sticky Sacred Spaces

We have less than a week left in our house.  Oh, Lordy.  It’s waaaaay less than a week, now that I plot it out.  We have four nights left.

If I wasn’t currently out of town at my in-laws for Thanksgiving, I’d totally go stress-pack something right now.  Speaking of Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the progress made last week due to stress-packing.  It’s like stress-eating or stress-shopping, but with more cardboard and less ice cream.

David mentioned today that it isn’t just the happy memories that make it difficult to leave; it’s the hard ones, too.  He said he’ll never forget sitting in our living room, looking down the hall and seeing Cee limp toward us for the first time, confused at why it hurt to walk.

Places are special.  Places have meaning.  And it’s not that we’re leaving behind all the memories, it’s that we’re leaving behind a place that became sacred because of the life we’ve lived there– the good, the bad, and the sticky.  There was a lot of sticky that has happened over the years in this house.

Here’s the kitchen at the least sticky it’s ever been, right before our showings last spring.

Last week, David came home and saw me meticulously peeling off the vinyl word art from this wall.  I could see how real the move became at that point for him.  How real it became that very soon, this will not be our house.  These crazy kids are going to have to bring sticky to a whole new zip code.

Ready or not, new zip code, here we come!  In a month!

This was a picture of our 2016 Christmas celebration.  We’re still not sure where we’ll be for Christmas 2017.  Technically we’ll be homeless, but only in the sense that we don’t have a home or any possessions that don’t fit in a suitcase.

The strings of lights, the special books, the decorations– they’ll all be in storage during this time of preparation for Christmas.  Our traditions will have to take a back seat to the logistics of our month in between houses.  While it’s a sad thought (so many gems on our Advent book list!), there’s also something meaningful about Mary-and-Joseph-ing it up for December.  Staying here a few nights, there a few nights.  Loading our dirty laundry on to a donkey as we journey toward Bethlehem.

In the mean time, any prayers are appreciated.  We’ll see how the next handful of days go.  I’m guessing there will be copious amounts of packing tape and tears.  And me and my Norwex scrubbing sticky fingerprints off all the surfaces ever.  There are a lot of sticky sacred places here.

3 Comments


  1. // Reply

    Prayers! I love the thought of Mary-and-Joseph-ing it up during December. Perhaps one day you’ll look back at this year, specifically Advent, with fondness.


  2. // Reply

    Best wishes for your move to go: not smoothly, that’s not at all likely; but well and with few major issues.

    – And thanks for sharing this.


  3. // Reply

    Prayers for you, Alicia! I wish I wasn’t half way across the country, so I could give you a hand!

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