My oldest son and his wife just bought their first home, and they are in the process of painting and making minor improvements before moving in. As I help them with the painting and odds and ends, I see little things that we all take for granted, and most of us never give thought to. I really never have before, not even in making my own home.

Pretty new glasses that match the plates in the kitchen. A shower curtain that brightens the bathroom and adds a little pop of color and pattern. The small seahorse planter by the sink that matches the color of the curtain and holds a tiny little cactus.

More mundane choices like dishdrains and towels. Carefully chosen necessities like brooms and mops that are all just as much part of making a home as choosing the decor and furniture.

Hearing them talk about the choices for the kids’ rooms, wall colors, new bunk beds, lawn mowers, weedeaters. What kind of furniture might go in the huge family room big enough for the whole clan, plans for a first cookout. Excited children making their own plans as they run in and out of the house.

When I was a teenager many young ladies still kept hope chests. Mothers and grandmothers carefully taught their daughters and granddaughters the provenance of cherished family possessions like crystal  and china. Beautiful antiques were often passed down as well.

Today that heritage and all it stands for seems all but gone, and apartments are furnished with sleek modern chrome and leather furnishings, or industrial fittings are creatively combined with pallets and junk to make furnishings. Some of that stuff I even like, but still, home making seems less about home and more about possessions and style sometimes.

So, as I watch a family I love settle in to a home they will treasure more because of their work together to create it, I feel happiness and comfort in my heart, watching them care for each other and their children in ways small and large.

As a mother, it is no small thing to see a daughter in law strive to make a home for my son, using her talents and wisely making choices while budgeting and juggling all the resources and responsibilities that come with family and home. I appreciate the little things that my son might never notice consciously, but the things that add to his comfort and his home life in so many ways.

My wandering son has a home, a wife, a family, and bright and happy days ahead. Thanks be to God for the small things that make the large things shine, and to the families that share those things and transform them into joy and life and days of love that build our society one family, one home at a time.