Operation Restoration: Home Edition

I have always gotten a little jealous when I see bloggers who take a cause on. They utilize their blogging platform for good raising awareness and often money for an organization.  I have watched Julie from Joy’s Hope raise money for Charity Water to build wells in Africa and give people a chance of survival.  She has literally rallied people to change people’s lives, who she will never meet, in another country by giving them the gift of clean water. Currently she is raising money by selling printables to help feed people in Sudan. She amazes me!

I watched Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl be moved when another blogger, Colleen from Mural Maker and More, lost her husband this year.  She is currently organizing a campaign to help Colleen get back on her feet after her tragic loss. 

Women like Julie and Brittany inspire me and I often wonder why I don’t have a burning desire to take on a cause and use my platform for good.

It isn’t that I am not a passionate person.  It certainly isn’t that I don’t want to help.  I just have never felt this overwhelming desire to take on the challenge of doing something.  I don’t know if it is because I am selfish and am not affected by tragedy around the world or if I live in the perfect little world I created and can’t see past my front door.

However, about 6 months back I was sitting across from a couple in our bible study listening to a husband and wife share their story of heartache, forgiveness and restoration.  I was moved. Maybe it was because they were sitting in front of me and I could see the pain and hope in their eyes.  Maybe it is because I love a good comeback story.  I don’t know.  Then about 3 months ago as part of their next steps they were moving into their own place after living with friends in their basement for over a year (sleeping on air mattresses every night).

I thought…”I can do this, I can help make a home for them.”  So I set out to do just that.  See this family moved back to Indiana a year ago to find a soft place to land and literally left everything behind them in Arizona to start afresh.  So after 16 years of marriage and with two kids they were starting over again and they didn’t have anything to furnish this new place.  However, they were content with just having the four of them together under one roof rebuilding trust and loving God.

So I got excited about helping this family have a home.  I know how important my home is to me.  I have worked hard to make my home a place filled with memories for my family, while nurturing the creativity in my kids and creating a haven for people who walk through my front door.  I wanted the same for this family.  So for the next little bit I am going to show you how I helped this family create a home for themselves.  In between projects I am going to let them tell their story.

So I reached out to several companies I have worked with in the past to help me with this project.  Only one took me up on it.  Homes.com. They really strive to be a partner for consumers looking to create that soft place to land by searching the site for a new home and, they too, want to help you turn houses into havens with resources on their blog. So if you’re looking to move, or just want to drool over some million dollar homes {cause let’s be honest, we all love doing that}, head over to Homes.com.

And stay tuned tomorrow as I begin unfolding, project by project, each aspect of my friends’ new home.