A “new” home…

A house is made with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.

Luke 10:5

Hermit crabs are one of my favorite tidepool creatures! Well, at least the small hermies!  Aquatic hermit crabs are found on coastlines around the world; there are more than 500 different species. They are such interesting little creatures that there just might become several blogs about them. Today’s blog will focus on how they are perfectly adapted to continually trade shells for their homes. Each crab uses a shell just the right size for it, then, as it grows, it must seek a new shell. The smaller shell generally becomes a home for another hermit crab unless it is so worn out that it no longer is suitable and safe as a home. Kind of makes hermit crabs seem a bit like people who, upon enlarging their families, often sell a smaller home to move into a larger one.

Over a decade ago, my family and I moved out of a home that we had lived in for more than twenty years because changes were necessary to match current needs for our family. Our new home was available because the family that had been living there needed more room, just like a growing hermit crab needs to occasionally move to a new home.

Our old house has changed hands several times. I visited recently and noted the many changes in yard and inside remodeling.  A part of me was a little sad at the changes because it wasn’t the same, but residences are temporary, at best, and overall, I’m just happy knowing that someone else is enjoying our cast off “shell”.  Homes are made from houses filled with love; the outer shell serves a good purpose, but it’s the life and love within that make it a home.

So, if you are contemplating moving into a new house, know that you can make your new house into a home just as someone will make your old house into a home too!   Change can be good!