Up until 2pm yesterday there were 11 people living in my home. Yes, ELEVEN! It’s not that we have a huge house… it’s more that we have huge hearts.

Opening up our home to those who need a place to rest their head has been in my family blood since I was a kid. Often I’d wake up and head into the living room to watch Saturday morning cartoons and there would be someone new sleeping on the couch. That’s just how it was, we had a warm space – someone had a need – we helped. My husband was raised the very same way.

Yesterday we had to do something that was extremely hard but necessary.

My hubby’s nephew {23} moved into our home in August. After his girlfriend {20} was kicked out of her house, she moved in here in October {she’d crashed here on and off for a month+ before this}. It was only supposed to be temporary, just until she could get on her feet and find a place of her own. As time moved on, the two of them fought and fought and fought. In the last three weeks, we’ve stepped in to referee a lot and bring some old fart adult perspective to their issues. They were so not ready for this relationship! Each of them have a bunch of growing up to do, first learning to love themselves so that they can properly love another person.

Keeping us up until 3am yesterday morning {after midnight a few nights before} with the same F-bomb laced yelling match, it was time to help her move on. Having the two of them under one roof was the perfect storm.

We want to help her, but in reality we actually do not have an extra room left in our house. Not for a long term stay anyway. Our oldest son gave up his room to house our nephew who then gave up his room, moved to sleeping on the couch, so that she could have a room.

If you’re counting, those two plus our six = eight, so who/where are the other three people? A student from Jamaica has lived with us for five years and in the middle of November, my sister-in-law and her hubby {parents of nephew who lives here} moved into our basement suite.

If this was a house… this is what we would look like!

As we drove her to a young women’s shelter, we continued to encourage her to finish her high school, go on to college, take the counseling that this particular incredible shelter has to offer, and work on being OK without a boy! Did you know that studies have shown that single women are more successful in the business world?

It’s not like we dropped her at the door and took off. We met with the workers, left them our contact information, I gave her a kiss and whispered how amazing she is and that she can call me whenever she wants. She cried. I cried. Dave cried. It felt like we were leaving our daughter at an orphanage.

I wish we had a big enough house. I wish they’d not dated. I wish I wish I wish. I wish a lot of things had been different…