Coming home.

It’s a feeling we can all relate to. That phrase probably conjures up a specific moment or memory in your mind. Maybe it was coming home from college. Or maybe it was coming home from military service overseas. Or maybe it’s just coming home after being away for a while. Regardless of what it is, the fact of the matter is coming home is associated with joy.

The road home is often a familiar one. Landmarks we pass others may ignore because they don’t call this town home. Familiar sites and sounds give you that feeling of “almost there” as you inch closer to your front door. My 2 year old son knows when we’re coming home just from what he sees out the car window.

But there’s one instance of coming home that none of us will ever remember but changes a home for a lifetime. It’s when we come home for the first time.

My wife and I experienced this just over a week ago when we brought home our baby boy from the hospital. Leaving the hospital under any circumstances is a joyous occasion, but none is quite as enjoyable as when you’re doing it with an infant child. Just walking down the hospital halls with that car seat in your hand gets you a smile from every person you pass. They’re all thinking the same thing: that little baby is going home.

Bringing home a baby might be the most life changing experience for any home. You’ve instantly added another person under your roof. There’s another seat needed at the kitchen table. An ancillary room is now fully occupied. Furniture, schedules, and storage spaces are forever changed.

A 19 inch human being just turned your home upside down. And you’ll love every second of it.

While home improvements, redecorating and even moving into a home will change your outlook on what it means to be home, nothing quite has the monumental impact like bringing a baby home for the first time.

Some of you know what I’m talking about and others will know soon enough. The story of your home will change forever when you bring that precious one home for the first time. Doesn’t matter if it’s your first child or your last, the feeling is always the same.

Welcome home.