REST

At the start of this whole project I knew we needed to set boundaries. So we purposed to only work one night of the week (Wednesday)...it's about all we could give combined with other obligations to work, church and family. Then on the weekends we could work on the house only if/when our other work at home was finished. We held quite strictly to this and it guarded us from stress and worry. In spite of giving only marginal time, our contractor has been saying he's amazed at how much has been accomplished. When we worked, we worked hard. But when it was time to quit, we were able to leave the tasks behind in order to concentrate on other things.

And now it is vacation time. Only God knew how much we would need this vacation. When we planned our family trip to Europe about a year and half ago, we had no idea we would be in the midst of this renovation project. We are all looking forward to some fun family time together.

And while we are gone, work will continue. 

It is good to tend to family relationships; to stay healthy by resting in the midst of work; to set aside time to play and laugh. Tomorrow will come and it will be a new day. Take some time today or this week to rest from your work. Set boundaries for yourself to keep stress and worry away. Enjoy the moment.

God, thank you for the rhythms of life. Help me to be a good steward of the time you have given me. I choose to trust you with each moment of my day. Guard my heart and mind from worry and stress. Thank you for the many blessings you have given me. I ask for your peace. Amen.

 But I trust in You, O Lord. I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands...Psalm 31

INSULATION

 This past weekend was a turning point in the renovation project. Demolition is finished and Keith and I spent a full two days putting insulation in the exterior walls and in the ceiling of the second floor. It truly was a task that took some perseverance and resolve to complete.

We worked til noon...not feeling as though we were getting very far at all. The weather outside was so lovely. We had the windows wide open, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. And we were stuck inside with a tedious task... getting hot and itchy in our long sleeve shirts... wearing stuffy masks...

 

Finally lunch time came and we gave ourselves permission to take a break. The shining sun and cool breezes drew us outside. We enjoyed a sandwich on the steps and roamed around the overgrown yard simply enjoying the day. It didn't take long before I was pulling out weeds and Keith hauled out the lawn mower. We would much rather be tending the yard work on a day like this!

As usual, I was having a conversation with God in my head while working. Two words came to mind..."insulation" and "weeds". Hmmmmm. What little nugget might I learn from this? Here is what God spoke to me: "It is good to work on INSULATION. I need to insulate my life from things at times. It is for my protection. But so often I am distracted...by weeds. And instead of doing the hard work of "insulating" myself with God's Word and spiritual disciplines, I fill my days with tending the weeds; following trailing vines and neglecting the necessary task at hand."

Soon, back inside we went. We had a job to do and a deadline to meet. After two eleven-hour days of work, the insulation was completed! We celebrated with some high fives and happy hearts.

These couple days taught me the importance of disciplining myself to stay on task and not to get distracted. I want my spiritual life to be the same. 

"Lord, help me stay on the path that you have called me to. I don't want to wander or fill my time with things not of you. Keep me strong and steady. Guard my mind and my heart."

 Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. 

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, 

because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 

1 Corinthians 15:58

HOSPITALITY

I am thankful for friends and family. Many have showed up at the doorstep of this big old house...some just out of curiosity, others want to get their hands dirty and help with the work. No matter the reason, all are welcome. 

Sharing a meal together in the midst of a long work day...provided by my thoughtful mother.

My mother and sister wanted to help remove wallpaper...good laughs and catching up with the news in each others lives made the evening fun.

I like the gate at the side of the house..."come on in!"

One of the words that God keeps speaking to me about this house is HOSPITALITY. I have several "pictures" in my mind concerning events and gatherings which I hope will take place in this house someday. Each picture involves lots of people. The rooms are large enough for entertaining and I have been keeping this in mind as I design the flow of the rooms and placement of furniture. I'm looking forward to meeting neighbors and making new friends, hosting parties and celebrations, as well as providing space for Bible study and prayer groups. We will have plenty of room for overnight guests too. There is even space enough on the third floor for persons who might need a place to live for longer periods of time. I am honored to have been entrusted with this property and desire for it to be a blessing to every person who enters.

I found this concept in Scripture...

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer HOSPITALITY to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms..."  1 Peter 4:8-10

This is one of the great blessings of HOSPITALITY. God's grace can flow through us when we entertain others and share our lives. I am trusting God to use me/us in this way...for His glory!

 

PERSPECTIVE

With drywallers coming in a week or so, we find it necessary to make sure all the walls are prepared. Nails have to be pulled out of all the exposed studs and the plaster walls need to be assessed. Loose plaster will have to be knocked out and cracks and dings will need to be smoothed over. That also means that all the wallpaper must be removed. I'll be repainting the walls that are in good condition.

Do you know of anyone who actually enjoys stripping wallpaper? With 10 foot ceilings and a stairwell that goes up 3 floors, the task seems huge. Every hallway and bedroom was wallpapered. After doing some research, I decided that I should purchase a steamer for the job.

 I've done a fair share of wallpaper stripping in my lifetime and I have to say that a steamer is definitely the way to go. With the steamer in my left hand and a scraper in my right, I simply moved across the wall, row by row, section by section, right to left.

This process provided me with a lot of thinking time; a lot of praying time. 

 After a section or two I needed to look around to see how much I had done...and how much more I had yet to do! That stairwell loomed ahead of me. And of course at the top of those stairs were hallways, bedrooms...and a 3rd floor too!

I was very tempted to be discouraged. But I was determined to keep working steadily...

...back to thinking and praying...

What about this process relates to my life? God, what principle could possibly be learned from this job?

The Father began to speak to me; to encourage me..."Don't dwell on what has not yet been done. Look how far you've come! Live in the moment. Trust God with what is ahead." 

As Keith and I were taking our morning walk and praying together, we realized that God wanted us to keep His PERSPECTIVE. He will always encourage us. We can trust Him with our future. We worry too much and begin to get discouraged because we see huge tasks ahead which seem impossible to accomplish. How will it ever work out? How will we ever be able to do it?

We were reminded today to place our trust in Him once again. 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself..." Matthew 6:25-34

...and by the way, there's lots more wallpaper stripping to go. In five hours, I was able to do the walls in the main foyer and up to the top of the stairs. I think I'll be doing a lot more thinking and praying.

SYSTEMS

Out with the old and in with the new. That has been the theme in the past week as we concentrate on stripping the old wires, pipes, wallpaper and even walls and ceilings. My to-do list has mainly been to "strip" each room down to the studs. The bones of the house have proved to be good, but the mechanicals need to be replaced and reorganized.

Activity has increased dramatically this week as plumbers, electricians and HVAC workers descended upon the place. Scattered debris settles in every room as workers do their jobs. And as we arrive at the end of the week to put in our day of work, we enjoy seeing the progress as well as doing our part by cleaning up. We recently spent a day hauling out old pipes from the basement as plumbers installed a whole new system.

We discovered that there is some value in these old pipes. Keith spent some time sorting and cutting...brass, copper, iron.

Then we carried it to the truck. My father and Keith took the load to the salvage yard where it was turned into cash...

...over $600 worth!

While taking these trips back and forth from the basement and out to the truck, Keith and I were pondering the meaning of these actions. We prayed..."Lord, as we carry out the old, replace it with a new system. May fresh water flow through us; living water. Bring life to this house and home. Flow through us Lord!"

When Jesus becomes Lord of our lives, he installs new systems; new ways of thinking, talking and living.

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!"

2 Cor 5:17

While this truth happens at the point of salvation, it also seems I spend a lifetime living it out. I carry my debris out daily, so that He can flow through me in a clean and fresh way. I ask Him to give me His system of thinking, talking and living. I need His grace daily to rain down on me; to cleanse and empower me.

"Father, today I give myself over to you again. Thank you for your grace; for the undeserved riches you bless me with. Open my eyes, give me your peace."

PREPARING

Yesterday I spent the afternoon doing some homework and research. I've been trying to stay ahead of the game with decisions I know I will eventually have to make. Things like...What color will I paint the living room, the kitchen or the bedrooms? What kind of light fixture will I hang in the foyer, the dining room, the hallways? What kind of tile will I use in the master bath or the kitchen floor? It's a big house with many rooms. I need to be prepared.

So I set out with a list of stores to visit and a clipboard for note taking. I also took my sample of granite that will be the kitchen counter and a sample of the wood that the kitchen cabinets are being made of. The more I looked at paint samples the more they all began to look the same. Finally, I simply told myself to decide! I found it best to pick about 4 or 5 colors that coordinate in a color scheme and simply use them throughout the house. There are 20 different rooms/areas in the house and there is no way I want to choose that many different colors. By using the 5 colors wisely, I can make all those rooms flow together and feel cohesive. For me, this is the fun part of caring for the house. It's fun to lay it all out on the table and put all the pieces together.

Jesus also said that He is preparing a place for us. I looked this up...John 14:2, 3. He told us not to be troubled or concerned, but to trust Him. "In my Father's house are many rooms...I am going to prepare a place for you." This thought intrigued me. God's house has many rooms and He is preparing a place just for me! "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." He wants me to be with him; to live with him.

I looked this up in a commentary..."The universe is the dwelling-place of my Father. All is his house. Whether on earth or in heaven, we are still in his habitation. In that vast abode of God there are many mansions. The earth is one of them, heaven is another. Whether here or there, we are still in the house, one of the mansions of our Father, in one of the apartments of his vast abode. We ought to continually rejoice that we are permitted to occupy any part of his dwelling-place. And it shouldn't matter whether we are in this mansion or another. We shouldn't grieve if we are called to pass from one part of this vast habitation of God to another. Jesus shall still be in the same universal habitation with us; still in the house of the same God; Jesus is going for an important purpose - to fit up another abode for our eternal dwelling."

The mansions and rooms being prepared for us are going to beautiful and colorful. What we are given on earth is only a sampling of something much more amazing. (see Revelations 21:15-27)

Thank you, Father, for preparing a place just for me. Your desire for me to live forever with you is. . . hmmmm. . . What a wonderful loving Father God!

LISTENING

It has been humbling and exciting to share this journey with so many people. To hear how God is using what He speaks to me to also speak to others warms my heart. He is an amazing God. How grateful I am to be his child and to be part of a great big family.

This past week has flown by. At the house, we just keep doing the next thing in the midst of other activities and responsibilities in our lives. Last week I took one day to retreat from it all by reserving a little art studio at Herrbrook Farm Retreat so that I could explore another dream of mine - watercolor painting. It was a wonderful get-away where I could be quiet and learn techniques in watercolor painting from a spiritual director and artist friend. 

While it was rainy and cold on the outside, the little studio cottage was warm and cozy on the inside. I enjoyed reading through a couple books and playing in paints. I also had some time to be quiet and meditate on God's Word and LISTEN. 

I am learning that as I listen to what is inside of me; my thoughts, my dreams, my longings, I discover that God wants to use those parts of me to affect the world somehow. He is showing me the purpose for which I was created.

Likewise, while working at the house, I often found myself asking God, "What are you saying in this?" In the past, he gave me illustrations and inspirations as I worked. And you have been reading on this blog some of those things He taught me. But this week there was more silence in my work. I was disturbed by that. My desire is to be in communication with the Father in the great and in the mundane.

Today, He says to me..."I am happy to have you sit with me in quietness and simply listen. Life doesn't have to be filled with learning and doing all the time. It is good to come away and simply be. There will be time for work later. But for now, I'm happy that you just LISTEN."

"Be still, and know that I am God..." Psalm 46

So, it was good to be quiet in the midst of the work. . . and many of you have been asking how that work is going. I thought I'd give you a picture of where things are by now in the demolition. Framers come tomorrow and we are very excited to get past destruction and into the rebuilding phase. 

The following pictures are not very pretty. . .

looking into the dining room and kitchen from the living room

standing in the kitchen looking into the dining room towards the front entry

standing in the second floor hallway...the "room" to the right will be a master bath

the bathroom on the third floor is totally destroyed...debris is ready to be hauled out.

Stay tuned for prettier things ahead. 

Keep LISTENING. . . Take time to be quiet so the Father can speak.