Home in the Middle of Healing

There’s something about this season that felt quieter than usual...

Not because it wasn’t full… but because it was full in a different way.

Full of slower moments...

Full of small traditions...

Full of love that looks more like care than chaos...

This year, Thanksgiving felt like home.

We started the morning with cinnamon rolls, and we went straight into turkey prep.

The house smelled warm before the day even began... But my favorite part wasn’t the food… it was our tradition.

For the fifth year in a row, we opened our “God box.”

The little box filled with worries, prayers, and answered prayers...

We read through the old ones, remembered what God carried us through, and added new ones for the year ahead. It’s simple… but it has become sacred to me.

Dinner was perfect.

Harry Potter on the TV.

Pumpkin cream cheesecake roll with Häagen Dazs vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Cuddles on the couch with Shadow and my husband to end the night...

My heart felt full.

And I couldn’t stop thinking: thank you God… for my husband, our home, our pets, and the people who still feel like home no matter where we live.

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But then Christmas season came…

Post accident, I already knew Adrian wasn’t going to be able to carry the tree up the stairs from the basement...

He couldn’t lift the heavy décor bins like he always does...and with fibromyalgia, there are things my body simply won’t allow me to do either… so I planned ahead.

I had our cleaning lady, who comes once a month, help me with the things my fibromyalgia won’t always let me do…

and now the things Adrian can’t do either....The heavier lifting. The deep cleaning. The prep.

I wanted the house ready for him.

I wanted Christmas to still feel like Christmas.

So I surprised him.

I decorated early... I filled the rooms with lights, greenery, snow touched décor, cozy smells, and warmth. He woke up to the season already living inside our home... And for a moment… everything felt normal again.

Then we decorated the tree together, but in a completely new way.

He sat on the couch handing me each ornament one by one.

He handed me the lights.

He handed me the memories...

And I decorated the tree myself…

taking breaks when my body needed to. Which still feels wild to me sometimes…

how we really are both disabled right now. Me permanently. Him temporarily.

But there was something beautiful about it...

Slower. Softer. More intentional.

And of course… Shadow claimed his spot under the tree like he always does...

Every year he curls up under the glow like it’s his sacred little place. And honestly…

it makes the whole room feel even more like Christmas.

This season has reminded me that love isn’t only big moments.

It’s the routines.

The shared spaces.

The small reminders that say “I see you… and I choose you again.”

Even when life looks different.

Even when bodies are healing.

Even when not everything goes the way you pictured.

God is still good in every season...

And I’m learning that home isn’t always a place…

sometimes it’s a feeling God gives you right in the middle of the hard things...

“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3

Kristen, Unfiltered Xo 💋