The Beginning

A haven is a place of safety and refuge. One of my goals as a recent homeowner is to make our house into a haven for my husband (Josh) and I (and our adorable 3-month-old-fur-baby-Golden named Lacy) to come home to daily, no matter what each day presents. I want it to be a place where guests feel welcomed and safe to be themselves, share their hearts, and make memories. My prayer has been that in using the gifts God has given us, He would glorify himself and show everyone who enters our home the hospitality of the Gospel. And someday, if the Lord wills, my prayer is that He would grow our family by adding children into the mix, and using our home as a place to grow them in community with one another and with God himself. I want our home to be marked with hospitality, personality, generosity, truth, love, and the Gospel.

In our first year of home ownership and marriage, Josh and I have enjoyed the bonding experiences of home projects, working alongside each other to dream about all we could make our house to be, and bringing those projects to fruition (guys, my husband is so handy, I still don't know how I got so lucky!). In making a home, I have found in myself a love for home-making. It has been such a joy to find new ways to create, to personalize, to decorate, to cook and bake, to build, and to grow. It is a constant learning experience... We definitely have not perfected all of the projects we take on. But that is half the fun– learning from experience. Early on, as we understood the amazing blessing that our Father in Heaven has given us by giving us a house, we decided we wanted to do all we can to steward it well and bless others in the process. We see our house as an opportunity to minister to others, and thus, we pray that our house will not just be a home, but a haven.

I look forward to sharing with you our past projects, our current projects, fun DIY ideas, how to do things the quality, yet inexpensive way, our future dreams and inspiration, tried and true favorite recipes, shopping tips, and life in between it all (I have posted some photos below, as a small glimpse into my life).

Here's to a new experience in the world of blogging!

xo
Lauren

This is my husband Josh and I on our wedding day (already more than a year ago... what?)

This is our little fur baby, Lacy. This photo was taken the day after we took her home, and she is already so much bigger than she was then!