My wife has a sign in our living room that lays out our house rules. I’m not sure where she got the sign, a home furnishing store, an art store, who knows?

The sign is simple enough. It’s not that large, maybe 10 by 17 inches long, nothing too big. The sign’s message has just 11 lines, but they’re powerful. Each one tells a story:

“In this house, we do mistakes.

We do fun.

We do I’m sorry.

We do hugs and second chances.”

At the end of each day, I look at the sign and reflect on the day’s events. The sign has gotten me thinking about the life that we’ve built. How we’ve turned a house into a home. From two, we’ve become five. From nothing, we’ve built a life.

The sign goes on to say:

“We do family.

We do happy.

We do real.”

We’ve faced our share of ups and downs, highs and lows, some good and some bad. Over the years, though, I’ve come to believe that the thing that has helped us has been the glue, our love for each other, that has kept us and bound us together.

The sign, of course, finishes up with:

“We do really loud.

We do forgiveness

We do love.”