Been a While..

We don't have internet at our new house, so my access to the internet world (and this blog) is short and limited. I am at Panera enjoying the morning and thought I would let you all know whats going on. WARNING: This may be a bit long.

We are deep in projects at our new home, and I am so thankful that I am not working right now. The boredom I was experiencing for the few weeks before we got our house is long gone, and every morning I wake up with plenty to do! We decided to start on revamping the kitchen. And this will be, by far, the longest and most tedious project. It was outdated and covered in wood paneling (see below), so we decided to paint all the cabinets and panelled walls. I am a little nervous our older neighbors will be a little upset with us. They all talk about how skilled a woodsman the builder was.

SIDE NOTE: We found out that the man who built our house actually lived there for 50 years and was a skilled craftsman. That explains a lot of the character and cool spots of our house. We have a ton of storage and beautiful wood floors, and even a dumb waiter! I never knew what it was before we had one, but its just a small elevator that goes from the kitchen to the basement. The builder evidentley threw huge thanksgiving meals and had the basement full of people, so they would just send the food down the elevator!

Thanks to much help from my parents and Andy and Meredith, our kitchen is nearing completion! I have kinda gotten used to the mess our house is in right now. Dishes are scattered abroad and Dixie cups and bowls have become our "china". But its probably a good thing for a person like me to live in chaos for a while. I thrive on order, and can be a bit anal. Maybe this will help me to be a bit more flexible? I will post pictures when it's done and updated! It's so much fun to see how things change with a little bit (or a lot in our case) of paint. It's not a project I would suggest if you want a quick change. We've been in for 2 1/2 weeks and worked pretty faithfully every day on it. Perseverance to the end!!!

Something I feel like the Lord has impressed upon my heart the past few weeks is how important it is to be thankful in all cirumstances. Even as I posted the pictures of our house on Facebook, I found myself writing something negative about every room ("this wallpaper is ugly, we'll change this, the basement is creepy"). And as people in our lives ask how the house is coming and how we are enjoying it, my standard comment is, "well it's coming SLOWLY; i wish it was quicker!" Have I forgotten how I grumbled the previous months that we were living out of boxes and in a billion different places? How I didn't have anything productive to do?

I have been thinking about this verse and the surrounding ones in James 3, speaking of the power and restlessness of our tongues: "Look at the ships also; though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder... so also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things." I am learning that my moods and degrees of thankfulness are STRONGLY guided by the words that I allow to come out of my mouth. Just like the small rudder guides the whole ship, so my words often guide my wellbeing. If I am saying things like, "Oh its coming slowly, blah, blah, blah" I find myself getting discouraged when I come home to the mess that awaits us. I find myself feeling like this will never get done. I find myself complaining and forgetting to be grateful that Christ has richly blessed us with a home to live in! So Nathan and I both are fighting to be more thankful and verbally positive, trusting that that small rudder will guide these great ships into more holy and God-glorifying waters. We have so much to be grateful for- not just a house, but supremely that the God of the Universe has been pleased to bless us by sending His Son to die for the sins that we have committed against Him.

Lord Jesus, may we never reduce your gifts (children, homes, jobs, schedules, marriage, etc.) to mere subjects of complaints or burdens. May we always praise you with thankful hearts for the riches you graciously give to us!!!

Closing!

We close on our house today at 4:30. I am so thankful to the Lord for helping us to endure this season, and thankful to Him for providing us such a wonderful material posession that we don't deserve!

There's No Place like Home

I wish I could just click my heals and be in our new home. As we look at this week for our closing, I am getting more restless with our current living situation (an air mattress and wrinkled clothes stuffed into tupperware tubs) and longing to be in a more permanent, settled home. But then I begin to think, "If I have made it this far (and Andy and Meredith endured this for 9 months), then whats another couple of days?" But then I'm just trying to keep a good perspective, yet failing often. I know this is just a house, just a material thing and that we can truly live on less than what I think. Many people do. I can't permanently settle on this earth, because it's not my ultimate home.

"For here (earth) we have no lasting city, but we seek the city (heaven) that is to come." Hebrews 13:14

But I just want to feel like I actually live in Dayton, and am anxious to find my days to be more productive. This feels like college all over again- moving to a city where you don't know a soul, going home every weekend because you're bored and it's just more comfortable, trying to adjust to a brand new life. But the truth is that the move will come in God's perfect timing. I'm trying not to count on this day or that this week to finally get the keys and an address (anything could go wrong); really I am just trying to distract myself every day and do what needs to be done.

A dear friend asked me what I have learned through this whole process of transition and homelessness. I still don't know, but I pray we are more grateful for this enormous blessing that God has given us, and don't hoard it or take it for granted.