Tag Archives: house

Adjusting

I took a photo of where I was thinking about putting our garden the last time I was at our new house and it wasn’t raining.

I didn’t take pictures of the inside, because I figured I’d get those after we move.

Which we still have yet to do.

Why?

Well, because God showed us things.

A consultation, concerning our kitchen, with our son-in-law, who is a contractor, made it obvious we needed to gut the kitchen.

I wasn’t excited, at least not immediately.

The Lord was so gracious and showed me He was providing, He also helped me trust Him with the unexpected and it’s turned into a wonderful blessing.

Handsome and I were able to discuss all the necessary changes and make decisions without any trouble.

We haven’t had a single argument or disagreement throughout.

Distance and my health kept me from being able to go pick out cabinets, so our daughter and son-in-law went and did the initial layout.

A few days later I was able to travel down and put the final touches on the plans.

My heart was so blessed that our daughter knows me so well.

She picked out everything I liked.

When I commented on that, she just smiled and said we have similar tastes, so it was easy.

That blessed my heart.

I traveled down yesterday and got to walk through the bare rooms.

The new paint looks wonderful and I’m really looking forward to being able to live there.

We only had one moment of concern.

When I walked into our bedroom my chest began to feel a little tight.

My husband was watching closely and asked me to walk into the attached bathroom.

It felt strange and I knew it was my body reacting to a trigger.

Thankfully, I felt better the moment I was out of the room and the door closed behind me.

“I was afraid of that,” Handsome said.

Then he explained he’d been smelling something and was worried it was going to bother me.

He went on to explain he would remove the cabinets and tear out the linoleum to see where the smell was coming from.

As I drove back to our rented house he called me.

“It’s only in one area, but I found mold under the flooring and we will have to replace the subfloor and part of the wall.”

I took a deep breath.

“Praise the Lord, you found it now.”

Because I am allergic to mold, we have been concerned about making sure the house was mold-free.

Although, finding something else which needs to be fixed isn’t fun, it’s important we adjust to God’s direction.

For He is answering our prayers by showing us in advance what needs to be taken care of.

As I focus on the tasks at hand, I am praising God for His faithfulness.

Yes, sometimes I have to work at being patient.

Sometimes, I have to spend extra time in prayer, asking God to help each one of us to be centered on Him, as I await each of the details which are required before we can move.

I’m not a patient person and I’m learning to adjust my wants and desires to align with God’s timing.

It has also been an opportunity to praise Him more.

Although waiting isn’t easy, it’s very important.

Rushing ahead of God or trying to force circumstances into my desires are both a refusal to wait on God and it’s a lack of trust.

I’ve done both those things and it wasn’t good nor did it help anyone.

I don’t want to live like that.

Thus, I’m thanking God for this time and season.

It’s another opportunity to learn a wonderful character trait: patience.

Psalm 123:2 KJV — Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for another opportunity to learn to wait upon You. Lord, thank You for Your patience with me, I’m a slow learner. Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness, Your understanding, Your love. Lord, thank You for showing us what needs to be done each day and for sustaining us. Lord, thank You for walking us through this season of adjustment. May our lives glorify You. I love You, Lord! Amen.

Not surprised

Yesterday was a lesson in trust.

We had an overly full day and I was praying throughout.

Tuesday had been a long day and I just didn’t want to step outside of God’s plan for me in anything.

I definitely felt His blessings yesterday.

Jase had to go to the dentist so I had told Sis I’d watch the grandbabies while we were in the area.

I completely enjoyed my time with them.

Then God blessed us with the keys to our new home!!

I let Handsome know I’d meet him there.

Our evening didn’t really follow our expectations.

We left the house pretty late to get back to our rental.

Handsome has to get up very early to get to work.

As we drove home we discussed our concerns about the house.

We already knew we wanted to rip out the carpet (wall-to-wall carpet is not a good idea for me).

We had plans to take out the cooktop and put in a range.

But we hadn’t realized that the space for the range was tiny.

We were going to measure it when we looked at the house, but before we got started the seller handed us a copy of the floor plan so we thought, “no need it will be on there”.

Nope.

So, we’ve been waiting to measure the space.

You can imagine our surprise when we realized it’s undersized.

We went to bed thinking we had a pretty good plan.

We chatted briefly about the plan before Handsome went to work.

I got online and started doing some research.

I was even going to contact someone in reference to our plans when I had a check in my heart.

What’s the rush?

Uhm…

Check with your husband first.

My phone bings.

It’s my husband with a text:

“I love you, Hope.”

I text back and he texted almost on top of mine.

He shared a scripture he’d read this morning and told me it had touched his heart.

The same scripture had touched my heart this morning.

So, I texted my husband that we should wait on making the changes we discussed.

We are going to get the floors done and pray about the rest.

My heart has peace.

Then the Lord brought to mind:

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV — Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

God wasn’t surprised by the size of the stovetop.

He’s not caught off guard by details.

This is His house and I know He’s going to guide and direct us through the “life things”.

Our opportunity to wait upon the Lord and be guided by His Word is so much more important than how we cook our meals or where we place our furniture.

It’s in these little things God builds our faith.

It is in these small “surprises” God works on our relationship with Him.

I’m looking forward to seeing what He has us do.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for speaking to both my husband and myself as we transition to this new place. Thank You for the surprise yesterday and how You are using it in our lives. Thank You that we can rest in You and not lean on our own understanding. I praise Your holy name, Jesus. Amen.

Unity

Mark 3:25 KJV — And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Jesus was talking to those accusing Him of driving out demons by the power of Satan.

Of course, their accusation doesn’t make sense, but in Jesus’s words to them we gain an incredible truth.

No house divided against itself can stand.

For those of us who are called by the name of the Lord it’s a vital truth.

We can not join together a devotion to sin and be a follower of Christ.

It doesn’t work.

We can not choose to serve both the Lord Jesus and our sinful nature.

There is no room for two masters in anyone’s heart.

You can only serve one.

Matt. 6:24, Luke 16:13

Instead we must die to ourselves, our sinful nature, and choose to follow Christ daily.

Galatians 2:20 NKJV — “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Thus, our lives must be built on God’s Word and our hearts fully devoted to Him alone.

Luke 6:47-48 NKJV — “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”

And this is only the beginning of how this truth can be applied each day.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your incredible faithfulness and love. Lord, thank You for teaching me how to look at life from Your perspective. Please continue to hone my heart, that I might see things clearly and walk in Your ways. Lord Jesus, please continue to teach me from Your Word. Please help me to live every day unto You. I love You, Jesus. Thank You for first loving me. Amen.

Daily reminders

I purchased this when I thought we were building a new house.

One of the things I wanted to do was fill our new home with scripture.

To have something in every room which would be a daily reminder of Jesus and His neverending love.

We didn’t build.

Instead God moved us out of the area.

But as I was tidying up this morning, I was washing this and reading the words again.

The memory of when and why I purchased it came back.

I so wanted our new house to be full of reminders.

Then I began to look around.

These were separate gifts. One is mine and the other was given to Anne.

My husband bought this about ten years ago and it has always been a blessing and a reminder.

While living with Tim and Sis I bought this at a Good Will Store.

This was a gift from a former student.

This was a Christmas gift from our dear friends.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Each room has something special which brings my heart a tender reminder of the love of Jesus.

I wasn’t able to specifically purchase and plan for this house.

Jesus did.

And I wouldn’t change anything.

Castles or palace

image

Only plastic and in pieces,
but precious for the little heart which sees a castle.

The ideals of the daily can turn anyone’s attitude in favor or against the places people abide.

Yet we know even for the wealthy, who reside in grand comfort beyond the imaginations of the average,  it is only temporary.

We know marble floors and polished silver are simply beauty of the moment.

The things in this lifetime rarely make it farther than a few hundred years.

Exceptions to every rule, the pyramids are older, but who wants to live there?

Log cabins or three story houses or apartments or trailers,
or castles all have the same flaws.

Eternity will rot each one.

Yet while the life is lived on earth each one has the responsibility to tend to their abode with care and stewardship.

To be thankful for what has been given instead of coveting that which wasn’t.

To be skillful with using even the simplest of homes to be hospitable.

To create a place for the family to reunite, refresh, and return to the calling of each day.

While doing all of this remembering continually the palace of the Father will never rot.

The gold crowns never tarnish. Rev.4:4

The sea of glass never crack. Rev.4:6

When the soul really does enter into heaven the tiny span of years and toil and trial and loss will be as but a mist.

My home is in heaven,  where Jesus has promised a place for those called children of God. He paid for it with His blood and I have accepted the sacrifice to die that I might live.

How about you?

Home

mansion

mansion

cottage

hut

What makes a home?

 

Is it the flooring?

The wall decor?

What key ingredient is a

HOME?

Long before I was old enough I began to plan my first home.

I thought about what I would decorate with and how I would bake cakes, cookies, pies.

Yesterday our almost eleven year old girl said to me,

“Mommy, I really like sewing and doing things at home. I am really looking forward to taking care of my children when I have them and cooking and baking and making things for them.”

I smiled.

“I felt the same way when I was your age sweetheart.”

She grinned around the little cape she was making for her doll.

In that moment I thought about all those childhood dreams of home.

There have been many rough times in the past when the house I lived in was very far from the home I so desperately wanted and it had nothing to do with the carpet, but everything to with the people.

The answer to what makes a home is what goes on there.

So the ingredients I have found that truly make home are these:

Jesus

love

the Bible

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

gentleness

understanding

thoughtfulness

selflessness

service

encouragement

hugs

prayer

What makes your house a

home?