As the day wears on and the sound of children's feet pitter patter across the old wooden floors of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast, I know they are leaving their mark on this old house. When they get older and in later grown up years I think they will look back and realize just how short life was and how little they accomplished had anything to do with growing up in a new house versus an older home.
Although I have built many new homes, I would never want to live in a new house. Stop to consider your place in life, and the impact you are having on those around you. Very little of this impact comes from the house that you live in. Others are affected most by your hospitality and warmness toward them. A new house very often is built with a hidden and unknown desire to impress others and extreme care must be taken to design it with a welcoming feel. A well worn and lived in home often is inviting and full of character and often expresses a 'we care' type of welcome. This is one thing I would like to instill in my children.
So if you live in an older home, sit back often and admire the worn marks in the floor and cracks in the ceiling. Reflect on the possibly hundreds of children who used to call it home. Reflect also on what you are doing to pass on your legacy to your own children and be humbled by the shortness of life.
