Day 15: My Dream House

Once upon a time (high school), I was really bored in class one day and I actually drew up make-shift blueprints for said dream house. The following were amongst the many amenities:

• Play Loft
• Huge Kitchen
• Office
• Craft / Sewing Room
• Indoor Theater
• Music Room
  
• 2-Floor Indoor Aviary (with floor to ceiling windows - north facing)
  
• 1,000 Gallon Fish Tank
• Master Suite (2 Balconies - 1 to the backyard and 1 to the aviary)
  
• 6 Regular Bedrooms
• 3 Gas Fireplaces
  

And that was all inside the house. The exterior included nicely landscaped front and back yards (huge lawns, lots of flowering bulbs, a small pond with a stream, lots of pine trees...), a jungle gym, a play house, stables, riding trails through the surrounding forest, a fire pit, a work shop, a "grandparents" house, and - not 100% positive, surprisingly enough - I think there may have been a pool.

Needless to say, the house rested on several acres of remarkably beautiful land in a small residential area at the edge of a redwood forest. The main house itself was at minimum 5,000 square feet, and - at 16 - I'm pretty sure I never bothered to calculate the utility bills. And I definitely didn't factor in the maids to clean it!

Rumor has it that years change perspective, and I have to say I'd put a large amount of stock in this rumor. While a few of the listed luxuries would be nice, my dream house some 12 years later now really only mandates the following:

• I want to feel comfortable in my house.
• I want my family to feel comfortable in my house.
  
• I want other people to feel comfortable in my house with they visit.

And to expound slightly on the two mandates:

• I would prefer to have enough room so that if a family member or friend decided to surprise me, they wouldn't have to rent a hotel room.
• I would like people to feel comfortable sitting on my couches and chairs, to not feel like they just sat on a rock with a pillow on top but also not to feel as if my couch just ate their entire bottom half. And I need to have guests sleep on the couch, I don't want to search for them between the cushions come morning. Nor find them on the floor because it was softer down there. Comfort denotes a happy medium - best of both worlds.
• I don't want people to walk into my house, look at the pattern on my couch, and run away blinded.
  
• Even if I had the money, I would NOT want for people to walk in and feel as if they had just entered a museum.

All jokes aside, the most important thing is comfort... and comfort extends beyond the physical and the aesthetic. My dream house is a refuge, a place that people would feel happy and at peace. I want it to be a place I can raise my family, where my children would feel comfortable enough to bring their friends, but also a place where we all would want to come home to each night.

And all that comes naturally by living up to one main focus: I want my home to be a place where there is a good feeling, or more specifically, where you can feel the Spirit of Christ in every corner.

A home that would be my own little temple on earth.