Gratitude - This Bed.

If I could put the image of gratitude into a photograph; this is what it would look like.

This Bed.

I am not sure I have ever been so grateful for an object as I am for this bed. Its not a great bed by any means. There is no real structure, just a frame to sit on, the cheapest box spring we could buy, and a mattress that was given to us by some generous friends that had an extra in their guest bedroom.

But since August of last year this bed has consisted of a mattress sitting on the floor of my in-laws basement where we lived for 6 months. You wanna see something funny, watch a 9 month pregnant lady get up 3 times a night to pee off of a mattress on the floor. Yikes.

Having this mattress on the floor during this time in our lives was pretty metaphorical. It was uncomfortable and ugly and cold. Because it wasn't in a home that was ours. It wasn't supposed to be there, it was waiting till it found it's home when we found ours.

As most parents do, once we moved and began the process of reassembling our lives our bed was put on the back burner of making sure our 3 boys each had comfortable places to sleep at night. We eventually purchased a box spring so our bed got a little taller. Then last Sunday when our parents came over the day we got back from the hospital after the birth of our 2nd little boy together, they brought our bed frame with them and my husband set it up that evening.

Sounds pretty normal right? I'm sure most people reading this have done that simple act of setting up a bed without a second thought.

That next morning (moooorning) our 2 year old had woken up around 4:30 with a nightmare so my husband pulled him into our bed with us, and I was laying on the other side of the bed with the brand new one, both were asleep in our arms. My husband looked at me and said "I'm so happy we have two." ...and my heart swelled 3 sizes that night.

My husband's and my relationship changed dramatically during the months that were the most desperate for us. In the 4 years we have been married we have changed from kids to grown ups. Again, you might think this is a normal process for people, but it's not. Not everyone puts in the time and effort to grow up as they should. When we started dating 6 1/2 years ago we became best friends instantly and made a ton of memories, but we were kids. We were fools. Through our times of struggle and growth, something clicked and we grew up; we grew closer to God, less full of ourselves, and replaced it with a never ending fullness of love for our little family.

Laying on our bed that night I felt complete and so indescribably thankful for this very simple item in our warm quiet home that our tiny boys could feel so safe and comforted on. I was so thankful for the memories I knew that would be made on this bed with our brand new family of 5 and the love and warmth our boys would be able to associate with this bed, even at 4:30 in the morning, and my heart was so full for the man across from me on this bed, on the other side of the 2 boys we had made together and the life we had built together from young crazy kids to this perfect home.

"This house is starting to feel like my home. So let's make it beautiful." - Sent by Ravens (song below)