The year 2018 is starting out in a big way for us.
We’ve purchased our own home!
It really feels crazy after almost fifteen years of marriage to say
“our house”and really mean it’s our house!
The house is just down the lane and across the road from the farm where we live now.
It’s tiny, nondescript, and really not charming on the outside.
But inside there’s good character.
And we’ve got vision for the outside.
We feel so blessed to be able to put an addition on before we ever move,
and just this week (after weeks of jumping through all the hoops for a permit)
the digging began!
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| This photo was obviously taken during the summer! :) |
But I didn’t
sit down to write about the house and all the
remodeling/building
thoughts that have been consuming my mind.
I’ve
actually had some time to just think lately.
Imagine
that!
Feels
miraculous when that happens.
My daily
schedule has changed to something like this:
Eat breakfast.
Do school as
much as we can until lunchtime.
Try to fix something
for supper
(or at least know what kind of hotdogs or leftovers we’ll have. Ha!)
Eat lunch.
Pack up the
kids and whatever we need to take to the house
(leave all other housework
behind).
Work at the
house until we absolutely have to come home for supper.
I’m loving
it!
Andrew
usually has a good nap in the afternoon
and the girls take things to occupy
themselves,
so I often
get to do my own thing for a few hours.
That’s
including a lot of painting.
And painting
means time to think.
I’m learning
that “white” isn’t necessarily “white”.
Over the
years I’ve done a good bit of painting, but until now,
I’ve never
been the one choosing the colors.
After living
in a house with lots of natural pine paneled walls
that make everything dark,
I’m ready
for some white!
We took a
trip to Home Depot to get some paint.
I started
pulling out white paint samples.
Okay… what I
thought was white really wasn’t so white.
This was
more difficult than I thought!
Every sample
that looked white, had a bit of a tint when I’d compare it to another.
In the end, I
talked to Paul the Paint Guy,
and he gave
me their truest brightest white that comes pre-mixed in a can. (Boring!)
As I’ve been
covering the already “white” walls,
(which I realize are actually quite creamy when
compared to real white)
I’ve been contemplating.
Thinking
about this comparison thing.
How easy it
is as a Christian to compare myself to another person I think is “white”.
But you
know, all of us humans have a tint.
There’s only
one Person to stand next to as a comparison.
When we are beside
Jesus Christ,
it’s only then that we can know what’s truly white.
Looking at
everyone around us with their various shades of “white”,
will only
make us confused and unsure,
like me holding all the “white” paint chips.
But the
beautiful thing is, when we’re all looking at Jesus,
being made
like Him, our whites will all become more and more true.
Our unity
will be real.
Our tints
will no longer clash.
May we know
HIM!
“Let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus,
the founder
and perfecter of our faith.”
Hebrews 12:1b,2a
