There’s a lot of excitement at our house right now! Christmas is coming…but even better…Grandpa Coppinger is coming!

We go to California every other year for Christmas. Since we went out last year, that means we won’t see most of Matt’s side of the family this year. :(

BUT, it is working out  for Matt’s dad to come from California to see us!

(Let’s not tell him how cold it is in Nebraska right now. Or about all the snow. And ice.) 

He flies in this Thursday and gets to stay for over a week! He’s wonderful to have around! He plays with the boys. He fixes things around the house. He compliments my cooking…

He hasn’t seen my dad since Matt and I got married 15 years ago. Both of our dads are excited to see each other again when we make a quick trip to Kansas on Christmas day!

It’s gonna be a great time! I’m so thankful God worked out all the details for him to come!
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What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. Don’t have a blog? Be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

When we lived in Colorado several years ago, our house had about 900 square feet. It was a nice little house and it was just fine. But as our family grew, and when we had company it got a bit crowded.

When we were making plans to move back to Nebraska, we were really hoping to find a house that was a bit bigger…mainly because we love to have company and wanted to be able to do that without having guests step on each other. Even a house twice  as big as our Colorado house would have seemed big to us. 

Out of the blue, a friend of ours called. Said he’d heard we were moving back to York. And did we know that he and his family were moving away from York? And that they had a house for sale?

Yes, we did know that they had a house for sale and had seen in the realtor’s book that it was HUGE…and that it was out of our price range.

Never mind that, he told us. He and his wife wanted US to have their house. He said with all the people we always had in and out of our house, it would be perfect for us. He told us we needed this house.

And then, without knowing what our price range was, he quoted us a figure that was EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR.

Wow. It would seem that God wanted us to have this house.

And so we agreed to buy it…site unseen. (Because we’re either crazy or we have a lot of faith…or maybe a little of both.)

The first few hours after we arrived and toured the house …I kid you not…I was dancing around like a little kid in a toy store. 

This house has over 3000 square feet of living space, plus a full (unfinished and yucky) basement for storage. There are six bedrooms. And…if you haven’t already…check out my wonderful kitchen.  There was a lot of jumping up and down going on when I first saw my kitchen. Good thing I didn’t hurt myself. I don’t have a clue how to dance.

We have a “game room” for our toys and TV…great for bunches of kids to hang out. Our living room is huge…plenty of room for lots of people. 

We really only use two of our bedrooms for our family. Our boys all prefer to sleep in the same room together. That leaves plenty of extra rooms for guests. We’ve been able to let people live with us temporarily…we have no problem saying yes to anyone driving through for the night. We LOVE having guests!

That being said, does this house have issues? Absolutely. It’s over a hundred years old. It is “full of character” which is our nice way of saying, “oh my word could Matt’s Honey Do List be any longer?”. There are a million things to fix and there always will be (because as soon as one thing gets fixed, something else decides it needs to fall apart). 

Therefore, I often have to remind myself what a blessing our big old house is. With all of it’s goofy plumbing issues and cracked walls and yadda, yadda…I sometimes forget that God hand-picked this house for our family so that we could serve Him with it.

Lately, I’ve been very strongly reminded about what a blessing our home is. For the past three months, there has hardly been a day that has gone by that we have not had guests. This house has been “grand central station” for college kids, over-night house guests, temporary live-ins, game nights and play dates with our boys’ friends. We’ve gone through more groceries (and toilet paper) than ever before.

Last night at Small Group…there were 23 children and 16 adults. It was loud…it was crazy…it was amazing.

Forgive me for this very long post…but today I am in complete awe of this gift God has given us. 

Thank you God for my wonderful, huge house that you’ve given us to use for you. (And forgive me for the times I complain about how much house there is to keep clean!)
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Please share!!! God is so good! Write your own Gratituesday post and come link up with us here. Or, if you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!