Living life in an unfinished house

Greetings friends.  How is everyone?  We are managing with temperatures rather unusually high.  It's funny, all around us people are loosing their garden vegetables and we are having to water again daily.

View to the garden

 Since we have planted in raised beds, we are a little dryer than everyone around us.  We are quite thankful for that.  Our corn is a little pitiful, but our beans are doing well as are our grapes and our potatoes.  I can't wait for them to be harvested.  Our wonderful Rutabagas are doing great too.  Their leaves are huge.  The peach tree is full of beautiful fruits.  Our raspberries are coming along nicely.  We will not talk about our blueberries (what blueberries). Logan harvested our strawberries well, they were yummy. 

Current bushes

The bushes in the foreground are our currents.  Logan sampled some the other day and he was busy spitting them out.  They are too tart for him.  They do have a different aftertaste.


Our wood piles have shrunk a lot.  Cutting the boards is exhausting, especially in this weather.  Tom and Sean split the work.  Sean was working on the hemlock pile and Tom took the hard wood pile.  It was so encouraging to see them both go to work at the pile.  They were doing quite well.  We have a few of the hemlock boards ready to go, but it is slow work.  And that brings me to my post today.

Before side window upstairs

The house went up so quickly and so smoothly that we all figured, no problem.  We will be done in no time.  But then, life happens.  I think I mentioned it in another blog.  The weather plays a huge role when you are working outside.  Tom and I were going to Claremont yesterday and we decided we needed to talk about what our priorities are.  He has been feeling a little like Moses, he shared.  Everyone wants, expects this and that.  He is only one person.  So he really wanted me to get down to what was important for me.  That was really difficult for me.  In the past couple of weeks God has been talking to me about the things that I do have.  It is so easy to get into the mindset that I am entitled to everything.  A bigger house, a bigger property etc.  You name it.  Our society is based on bigger, more, that is better.

It started a few weeks ago, when I started planning Natasha's graduation.  She is such a special and beautiful

young lady and I wanted to make the day special.  We have a few things coming up in 

The uniform

August and I knew that I would have it in August.  Our church has a great set up.  There is a kitchen and a wonderful back area that is flat, where the young people can run around to play volleyball and baseball if they choose.  So I thought, there is no way the church is booked on the 3rd.  So being who I am I decided to have it then, before checking with our pastor.  Well, upon checking, there is a wedding that same day at the church.  How rude.  They could move the wedding, right?  Well, I didn't want to interfere with the wedding, and brought this new piece of information home to Tom.  In a very Tom-like fashion he asked why we couldn't have it at the house.  Well, hello Tom, I thought.  Where have you been?  Inconceivable!!!  Totally out of the question.  The more Tom and I thought, the more I began to realize that God has provided every (and I mean every) need the family has had.  Why was I so afraid that He wouldn't provide what we need for Tasha's graduation, even if it were at the house.  Whoa!  The pit of my stomach went lurching.  The fear roared its ugly head again.  No way, not possible for something good to come out of this.  And then I thought about it.  At night I see the stars and who am I?  I am a daughter of the One who stretched the heavens and put the stars into their spots.  Hello, I think he can handle a little thing like a graduation.  So I decided to put that trust completely again into the hands of the One Who is very capable.  I was meeting with some people for VBS (I did the crafts!!! ME, can you imagine?:>)  and mentioned my predicament.  The pastor of the Congregational church, who was in the meeting, immediately offered her church and facility.  Wow, I didn't see that one coming.  Have it at a different church?  You bet you.  I was thrilled.  Talking to our pastor the weekend following, he mentioned that the church would be available after 1PM.  In time for our little celebration.  Well, make up your mind, will you, God!  Where to have it.  So, the moral of the story thus far, is that I needed to let go, once again, of my expectations and just rest that He was going to take care of this whole thing.  And He sure did.  So, our little celebration is at the Baptist church with the nice outdoor area.

Holding a ladder for the window installation

What does that have to do with the house, you wonder?  I once again needed to be able to trust that God is going to take care of little things.  So here we are back to the discussion Tom and I were going to have yesterday.  Am I willing to accept what has been given to me and consider anything else a blessing?  Or do I put my foot down, and make things happen, pestering my poor hubby every step of the way.  What is really important?  Is having beautifully crafted wooden floors and cabinets really important?  I came to the realization that really, what is important is that we have a good relationship with each other, that we enjoy being around each other.

Eating at Lake Champlain

 I have to think of what we have.  We have so much!!  It is such an awesome blessing to have my husband right outside the door.  If I am mad at him I get to throw something at him right away and not have to wait for hours! :>  I am kidding!  The last time I threw something at him I waited all day.  The kids see their parents have a good time together, sometimes have words (mostly on my part), but you can't really teach them how to handle marital relationship any better than that.
So what God was asking once again, like so many times in my life, are you willing to trust my perfect timing?  That lesson is so hard for me to learn.  But it comes down to the basics again and again.  Do I really trust

that God is God?  Do I think that I have better ways and that my ways are better than His?  I always want to be in the driving seat.  But He just asks me to move over.  He wants to be in that seat.  If I let Him, He makes things beautiful. 

I have decided, over and over again, that yes, God is God and His ways are better and that I should rely on His perfect timing.  So, it is a difficult process, since I would love to have a finished house, with wood floors and maple cabinets galore.  But in the meantime, I have been given a house that is in the process of being finished and completed.  In all things do I then rely on Christ to come through for me? 

Yes, because He makes it beautiful and complete.  The house building is like my life.  God is finishing me bit by bit.  It takes a little time and I have to wait for His refining fire to get me through.  When that house is finished, there will be rejoicing, but in the meantime, there is a lot of rejoicing in what is before me.  I have 4 really great people with me on this.  What a blessing that is.  To me, that is more important than what color my siding is.  God's timing is perfect!

By the way, my daughter now is employed at The Subway (no not Subway), a family run business.  She loves it and is very excited.  Enjoy this beautiful video.