Never undertake anything for which you wouldn't have the courage to ask the blessing of heaven.
G. C. Lichtenberg
Some readers may remember me sharing about us needing a new roof. We have rebuilt almost every room in this humble home but there seems to always be another thing to fix. Thus the way of being a big family in the home we planned to be a two years that turned into over 17.
We have skylights in three rooms and they have been a constant problem since day one and my husband has tried to fix them countless times to no avail. We finally realized they must be taken out and new ceilings and such built in their place. The decision came too late because some heavy rains came in one day and our bathroom roof (right next to our bedroom) collapsed. Literally, we went in the room to see sky and this was the prettiest room in the house at the time. It was the first room we focused on the appearance and feel as much as the practical needs and it was to have been leading the way for the other rooms. I'm not saying the rest of the house had no mind paid to appearance because I strive for cozy, comfortable, clean and pleasing as much as I can but with little space... MORE attention to function is usually the call.
To shorten some of the wordiness of this, the first room we focused so much on with new pedestal sink, redone claw foot tub, 1928 styled new toilet, hand finished armoire and on it goes was in worse shape than all in one swoop.
My husband owns his own business and is a one man "crew" and the economy not only hit him but time is a huge issue. As a result, before he even got more than a tarp covering the roof over the bathroom, weather broke through and rain flooded through our bathroom and came pouring into the bedroom ruining floors that were only a few weeks down!
Things seemed to be falling apart around us. The heating and air conditioning (along with the duct work under the house) all went out and we put a small window unit in our bedroom. It leaked but you couldn't see it so water traveled between the walls and between the new flooring and the floor's foundation and there was extensive water damage by the time we figured it out. By this time, mold and mildew formed in the bathroom and on one part of the bedroom wall touching the bathroom.
That is when we lost not only a bathroom but a bedroom. We don't have a spare bedroom but we had a room my husband built on after it had been torn down and even though still in bad shape... better shape than the bedroom.
By the time it was said and done, our home leaked and then literally poured water when it rained. We had four rooms we had to put stock pots and eventually buckets out every single time it rained and the damage was extensive.
Somewhere along the way... I did something I had not done once in my entire life. I started losing hope and once that happened, it was like a vortex sucking me under. My home ... this place I had poured my heart into and loved serving from and opened any chance I could to hospitality and so, so much more was physically falling apart piece by piece and my hopes, dreams and plans were going down with it.
I saw little hope for help.
What do you do when you have no money to buy supplies if you stop working but no time to use the supplies if you are working all the time? We had no money for gas for me to start work somewhere and no clothes beyond typical stay at home casuals.
It not only all seemed impossible to fix... it reached a point of being impossible to fix by human hands.
Kim in Latvia was chatting with me and she started praying and encouraged me to remember the source of my provisions in every area. God spoke through her, dear ones. He lifted my head enough to heed her advice and drag myself back up and collapse in tears at His feet and at the altar of His Word.
I had to trust Him and be at peace and content in that trust no matter what things looked like in my spot on His world.
We started praying. I prayed. I read my Bible and Kim continued praying and time after time after time ... she urged me onward when despair tried to sap my strength.
Our three sons are all grown and on their own but we didn't let them know how much help we needed because they are all so busy trying to keep all the plates spinning in their own lives but they ended up telling us we needed to ask for help when we needed it. The problem was still getting it started so they had something to work on.
All of this to say that God answered from heaven and provided a job for my husband that paid for our entire roof. After years of that roof getting worse and worse and worse... we had a brand new, completely built and covered roof in 21 hours of work! The men who did it worked almost non stop until was finished!
We found out not long before this that Bruce and Kim were coming to the United States ... and HERE to our home!
In one of our talks in preparing for the time they would be here, Kim told me Bruce would like to help with the work on the house. I couldn't believe it. Work the one time in YEARS when they got to come home?! She insisted this is what he wanted to do and Blake (my husband) was ALL for it. He got to work clearing out mold and mildew, walls, ceilings, and putting real and brand new windows in my bathroom AND bedroom.
The miracles just started a landslide in my heart. I had prayed fervently for a roof even though by ALL appearances... it was humanly impossible with the money we didn't have, the time and so on. Far beyond the roof, I prayed for the Lord to provide real windows one day.
The first time it rained after the roof was replaced... I almost cried. I cannot tell you what it feels to this day to not have to worry over something ruining or imagine the damage being done by water pouring inside when it is raining outside.
This is getting long so I will break it up as I am doing the food and meals on the Nutmeg Notes blog!
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