Whether it's mowing the yard, paying the electric bill, replacing an old toilet, placing charcoal throughout to absorb the old musty smells, pulling up 25 year old carpet, treating for termites, setting up temporary usable areas, still unpacking boxes, making the monthly mortgage payment, strategizing two year's worth of renovations, figuring out where to park vehicles, planning to convert the garage into a workshop / gym / home office / laundry room, daydreaming about a place for people to visit AND a treehouse AND a zipline AND a fireman pool AND an indoor slide from the 2nd floor AND a place to play dodgeball AND an endless amount of ideas, seeking God & others for wisdom, looking on Pinterest for cool cost saving DIY ideas, receiving & collecting free used materials from family & friends, watching fixer upper shows, downloading helpful apps, reading home improvement articles, having a humble budget that forces creativity - resourcefulness - ingenuity - and faith driven prayers, having to ride the brakes on my immediate ambitions to give room for God to supernaturally work in His ways & His timing, and countless other thoughts, dreams, desires, and repair needs.... I'M THANKFUL, GRATEFUL, BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE, AND THOROUGHLY LOVING EVERY ASPECT OF BEING A STUART OF A HOME & PIECE OF LAND!! It could all be wiped out by a fire, tornado, or hurricane in under a minute, but none of that can extinguish the joy I authentically have on this day, during this hour, and in this moment. Nothing can take away the experience of the present-tense. The house doesn't own me. God owns me. I get to be a temporary caretaker of this house and this piece of land for however long or short it is, and 3 months into it, it is surprisingly one of the greatest blessings and joys I've ever experienced. I knew I would like it... I never knew I would love it this much! Had to share =)
The attached video was made for my homeowner's insurance a few weeks after purchasing the house. I had to leave shortly afterwards to run our summer camps in GA & TN so the renovations and work projects had to be paused (that's the hardest part when you're eager to make progress!).
Now I'm back home looking forward to splitting time between my fulltime job, my life responsibilities, my daily disciplines, and my house projects.
A FAVORITE VERSE...
- "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." - 1 Timothy 6:17
(I love that it's important to God that we experience His joy & His provisions that foster enjoyment as we journey through life. Any and every gift from God has the potential for personal enjoyment as long as our hope is in the Giver and not in the gift. The great challenge for all of us is to not put the gift above the Giver, and not to seek the Giver with the pretense to get the gifts.)
MUCH THANKS...
I can't thank the people involved in this purchase enough for the role they played! My heart overflows with eternal gratitude!
*Note: I keep Laurie's cats here. She lives with my parents, but her cats stay here with the dogs (AKA: The GTD Zoo haha!).
