Fixer Upper

There’s a joke among my husband and I that one day, I’m going to speak one simple phrase that will send him racing out of the door, late for work or any place that doesn’t involve listening to the rest of my question because it will definitely lead to work for him, those words are, “What do you think about….?”

When we bought our current house in 2013, we knew it could be our forever home. We bought far more house than we needed at that time to plan for our future family. We loved the floor plan, the amazing neighborhood and all it offered, we loved the central location, and we soon fell in love with our awesome neighbors; it was far from a fixer upper. However, I always seem to find projects for us. You want to know what’s amazing about my husband? No matter how crazy my timing is, or how big of a project I have in mind…I speak it; he does it. Some things take major convincing (like whitewashing my fireplace!), while other things are simple questions that turn into him later ripping our house apart to create whatever image I have in my head. I love making my home beautiful and more functional for my family, so we’ve done a lot to our home in the 4 years we have lived here. I joke that I’m the brains, and he’s the muscle, but that is totally true! And that sweet, amazing man never complains. No matter how poorly my timing (like redoing rooms right before having a baby, or tearing down walls weeks before a big 3rd birthday party) he’s right there, on board, ready to work. So recently, when he arrived home from a business trip and my first words were, “What do you think about taking down some kitchen cabinets for me?”, he had NO idea what he was getting himself into. Luckily he loves me.

Fast-forward three weeks, and our remodel is over. This time, there was blood, definitely sweat, but no one shed any tears! Our house had a pass-through between the kitchen and living rooms that  I’ve always disliked. When we discovered during demo of the cabinets that it could all come down, there was minimal contemplation about the decision.  Although we had a big 3rd birthday party coming up in just weeks, I left for Target at 8pm at night because my anxiety was too high and they went to work destroying my kitchen. Stay with me, I have a purpose today.

My kitchen had to be completely broken down, destroyed, for my vision to take place. The plan was to rip out the wall, measure and add a piece of granite, repair, repaint, and voila, a whole new house.  But like all projects, it wasn’t that simple. We ran into problem after problem, and setback after setback.  A poorly placed gas line requiring removal, electrical re-wiring of over half our kitchen, popcorn ceiling removal (never again!), which required more plaster and dry wall work, the paint company not being able to match our paint requiring re-painting of our entire living room when I was already repainting my breakfast nook, and dining room, and even the night before the birthday party my kitchen having to have more demo before the granite top could be installed. All of this to make for weeks of hectic, long nights, that cost a lot more time and money than my simple question had intended. Yet, that amazing man I keep talking about never complained, and we had some amazing help along the way to make our vision come true. Thankfully it’s all said and done, and I love it, but I learned a lot along the way.

Here’s what God taught me just from this crazy whirlwind past three weeks of my life. Just as we had a vision for our home that required it being broken down, unusable, and out of order temporarily, God has a vision for us.  To complete our design for our house, it required a lot of work, and we had to be willing. That’s exactly how God works in our life.  For His will to be done in our lives, it requires complete submission and often “breaking down” of our old selves, so that we can become His creations. God chips away at us and all that things that are unholy in our lives, just as we had to destroy our home to make it more beautiful. We had a goal, and a purpose, but we had to completely destroy what was functional before it could be as we envisioned. That’s the same way God operates in our lives.  He sees our vision, He has the plan.  And though it might not go as we had planned, and might not be easy, somehow He gives us faith to make it to the end, and we end up beautiful if we submit to Him and allow ourselves to be used for His glory.

The thing is, God doesn’t want us staying the same. Sure, the kitchen was functional, but I knew it could be so much more. God doesn’t want us to stay the same, he wants us to be more, strive for more, bring more of Him to the world, and be on fire for Him. It is our job as believers to bring His word to the world. Sometimes that requires being bold. Sometimes that requires breaking down walls, encouragement from others, and stepping out on faith. So be bold, fellowship with other believers, declare His glory. Be willing to be broken in order to be whole. Beginning to walk with Christ or submitting to His will can be intimidating, but that’s what is so amazing about his grace. It covers us enough to fill in the defects, and help sustain us until the end. It’s not easy to be broken down, but He always raises us up for His glory.

So today, just be bold. Fellowship with believers, celebrate His love for you, encourage others. Spread love, spread hope, and bring a bit of joy to others.  Someone you encounter today might need a bit of the joy you have to give. Be bold friends, be bold! Let God approach you like a fixer upper, my frequent prayer is less of me, more of you God. More of You. <3

Be blessed friends! And thanks to everyone who joined in our chaos the last few weeks whether working on our house, finding us the right contractors, or partying with us! <3