Thankful
This is November, which is when everyone puts the what-I'm-thankful-for posts on Facebook. I have done these in the past too, and I like the way it puts you in a thankful frame of mind. This year I'm not going to do it daily on Facebook, but I will do it here and there on my blog. Of course I'm thankful for having a Savior so I am going to heaven. I'm thankful for people who are willing to serve in the military, even if it means dying in war, so I can live in a free country. I'm thankful for Michael and for Kara and for all my friends and family. I'm thankful for my good childhood, for modern conveniences, for modern medicine, etc. The list goes on and on.
Today, I'm grateful for all those things PLUS my new house. Of course the whole house is a gift and a blessing beyond belief. But that's how God works, doesn't he? Some people are blessed with as many babies as their heart desires. Some people are blessed with the perfect partner in life (myself included). Some people are blessed with a talent to sing or play an instrument and are able to reach people for the Kingdom through that. Some people are blessed with great health (myself included, so far). And the list goes on and on. God loves to bless us - He loves us so very much. Like a parent who loves His sweet babies so much, He delights in us and dotes on us. Not only has the house been a blessing (and will forever be dedicated to God and used the way He tells us), but this town has been to. It's no secret that we love Alabama. We love the south, and we aren't alone. How many other areas of the country have entire genres of music dedicated to people who sing about their love of that part of the country and the way of life there? None! As I listen to country music, I hear people loving the way things are done here, people loving the landscape, and people loving the people. We are living in "the buckle of the Bible belt" and the freedom that comes with it is.....well....freeing!
Another huge thing I'm thankful for today is this rental house. Specifically because I don't have to live in the house as it's being built. You see, I lived in the Maryland house while every bit of it was renovated. The basement flooded in a hurricane. The whole thing had to be ripped apart and put back together. The first floor was redone in a huge project that started as just the kitchen and spread out to two and a half months of construction dust and no kitchen. The second floor was done in smaller pieces - just replacing the carpet, stairs, and hallway hardwood floors. Next we did the upstairs bathrooms.
Let me tell you, trying to teach school to Kara while hammers and nail gun air pumps and saws are going off all day is difficult. Let me tell you, keeping the house feeling like a home (something I take very seriously as my job as homemaker) is very difficult when your stuff is everywhere. Let me tell you, keeping the house clean (another thing I take seriously) when construction dust is everywhere is difficult. Living without a kitchen, living without bathrooms (well, the working one is two flights down), is difficult. The disruption of your personal space is grating. Anyone who hasn't lived IN it, doesn't understand. And the longer the process goes on, the longer you feel like you aren't home, but are camping or something - trying to be human in an environment that you weren't meant to be in. Laugh at me for being over dramatic, but I'm not exaggerating. (And those of you who were laughing haven't been through it.)
Here, during this process, I thought building a house would be like that. But it's not. I thought it would be one of the most stressful things I ever do in my life, but it's not. The house and dirt and mud and nails on the ground and cigarette butts and water bottles full of dip spit and piles of dirt/mud/gravel/sand and boxes and sawdust and NOISE is all in a place that isn't where I have to live. We put on clothes and shoes that can get dirty, drive 10-15 minutes around the lake and up the mountain, to arrive at "the construction site." We play there as long as we like - we like to spend a lot of time there, really. Then we kick the dirt off our shoes and go home to where it is clean and quiet. Home, where we don't have to be up at a certain time because someone is coming in our house - someone I've never met before. Home where we don't have to feel weird about which construction guy is using what bathroom and I have to clean it. Home where I don't have to look at a dumpster in the yard. Home where no one is tracking dirt inside. Separate.
I'm thankful. It's huge. And this process has been nothing but fun so far. What a blessing.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
All good things - everything we are thankful for - comes from God, the Father. What love.
Today, I'm grateful for all those things PLUS my new house. Of course the whole house is a gift and a blessing beyond belief. But that's how God works, doesn't he? Some people are blessed with as many babies as their heart desires. Some people are blessed with the perfect partner in life (myself included). Some people are blessed with a talent to sing or play an instrument and are able to reach people for the Kingdom through that. Some people are blessed with great health (myself included, so far). And the list goes on and on. God loves to bless us - He loves us so very much. Like a parent who loves His sweet babies so much, He delights in us and dotes on us. Not only has the house been a blessing (and will forever be dedicated to God and used the way He tells us), but this town has been to. It's no secret that we love Alabama. We love the south, and we aren't alone. How many other areas of the country have entire genres of music dedicated to people who sing about their love of that part of the country and the way of life there? None! As I listen to country music, I hear people loving the way things are done here, people loving the landscape, and people loving the people. We are living in "the buckle of the Bible belt" and the freedom that comes with it is.....well....freeing!
Another huge thing I'm thankful for today is this rental house. Specifically because I don't have to live in the house as it's being built. You see, I lived in the Maryland house while every bit of it was renovated. The basement flooded in a hurricane. The whole thing had to be ripped apart and put back together. The first floor was redone in a huge project that started as just the kitchen and spread out to two and a half months of construction dust and no kitchen. The second floor was done in smaller pieces - just replacing the carpet, stairs, and hallway hardwood floors. Next we did the upstairs bathrooms.
Let me tell you, trying to teach school to Kara while hammers and nail gun air pumps and saws are going off all day is difficult. Let me tell you, keeping the house feeling like a home (something I take very seriously as my job as homemaker) is very difficult when your stuff is everywhere. Let me tell you, keeping the house clean (another thing I take seriously) when construction dust is everywhere is difficult. Living without a kitchen, living without bathrooms (well, the working one is two flights down), is difficult. The disruption of your personal space is grating. Anyone who hasn't lived IN it, doesn't understand. And the longer the process goes on, the longer you feel like you aren't home, but are camping or something - trying to be human in an environment that you weren't meant to be in. Laugh at me for being over dramatic, but I'm not exaggerating. (And those of you who were laughing haven't been through it.)
Here, during this process, I thought building a house would be like that. But it's not. I thought it would be one of the most stressful things I ever do in my life, but it's not. The house and dirt and mud and nails on the ground and cigarette butts and water bottles full of dip spit and piles of dirt/mud/gravel/sand and boxes and sawdust and NOISE is all in a place that isn't where I have to live. We put on clothes and shoes that can get dirty, drive 10-15 minutes around the lake and up the mountain, to arrive at "the construction site." We play there as long as we like - we like to spend a lot of time there, really. Then we kick the dirt off our shoes and go home to where it is clean and quiet. Home, where we don't have to be up at a certain time because someone is coming in our house - someone I've never met before. Home where we don't have to feel weird about which construction guy is using what bathroom and I have to clean it. Home where I don't have to look at a dumpster in the yard. Home where no one is tracking dirt inside. Separate.
I'm thankful. It's huge. And this process has been nothing but fun so far. What a blessing.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
All good things - everything we are thankful for - comes from God, the Father. What love.
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