Best Seat in the House

In my family, we porch.

We sit in beaten-down Adirondack chairs around the fire pit, occasionally adding a few old folding lawn chairs when the crowd gets bigger. The littles make s'mores while everyone else talks. And listens. We play games, bring friends—old and new—crack open a couple of drinks, laugh, sing, dance, reminisce, love, cry, and somehow never seem to run out of things to talk about.

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There's something special about a back porch.

It's comfortable and familiar. Conversations linger, and no one's in a hurry. Some of my favorite memories were made when no one was paying much attention at all.

For my twenty-first birthday in May, I asked for a back porch.

Not because I needed another place to sit, but because I missed having a place where people naturally gathered.

So my mom and I built me one. 

Not like an exact copy of the porch I grew up with. Just one of my own.

Now, most mornings start outside with a cup of coffee before the sun begins to scorch. Some evenings, it's a Bible study or guitar picking. Other nights, it's a long phone call with my mom, or sitting outside with Ashlyn after the sun goes down. Sometimes it's completely quiet. Lately, I've been watching a pair of finches build a nest in the wreath by my back door. I've learned that if I sit still long enough, they stop worrying about me and go back to what they were doing.

I don't think I've become that much better at slowing down yet

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I think I've just finally given myself a place to do it.

Maybe that's what I've always loved about a back porch. It's one of the few places that doesn't ask you to accomplish anything. You don't have to be productive or entertaining. You can simply be there and it always is enough.

Anyways…Meet Jo, Meg, and Laurie:)

A new birdie family living on MY own porch!

Annddd here's our back porch circa 2012: