Micah and I bought a house back in February. We knew when we bought it that we would have to reside it this year. It had the Masonite 12 inch siding on it. The stuff had out lasted it's life span.
We are using an engineered wood siding called Smart Siding. I am not sure how smart it is because it is made from particle wood with a veneer on the outside.
We caulk all the joints and everywhere it meets a trim board to try to keep moisture out.
And then we paint. we paint with a sprayer to try once again to get all the joints and ends coated with paint so they are sealed.
We put on all new trim boards. It makes it so much easier to paint if the boards are not weathered
Narrower siding and new trim with a new coat of paint can make a house look a whole lot better.
I know the old is still underneath, but it is hidden away. It has become part of the structure even though it is out of sight.
You put up the new and make sure you have closed all the avenues for destruction to work it's way in.
Then you put on the finish and you can see the difference.
Irv put in a tile around a house of ours to try to keep the basement dry. The fill is settling and I don't have a loader to move the dirt where it needs to be. I am in the process of getting the lawn level again. It is a a slow process. I do some each day. Each day it may not look like I get much done but it adds up day after day.
We had 3 rental houses inspected this week. The tenant in one works a lot of double shifts. 16 hours a day. She had done all of the laundry for her family. The clothes had been washed and dumped in a pile in front of the washer and dryer. The inspector was not a happy camper. That had to be picked up and put away. I tried to explain to him that when I went through the house last week to make sure all the smoke detectors, carbon dioxide detectors and GFI outlets were working there was not clothing by the washer. I think he thought I was lying.I am not sure what city code he could cite but I didn't ask. The inspector told me if I had the tenant get all of the clothing put away and send him a picture he would pass the house.
Working double shifts with 3 children, trying to get the bills paid without any Government help has to be tough. The middle son was home so I went back in and said "lets help your mom out, I will help you and lets get all these clothes gone." The boy got right at it and thanked me several times for helping his family. I just didn't want to have to pay the $75 reinspection fee. Sometimes we can have everything cleaned up and we end up with a mess again
I spent some time talking to Steve tonight. Steve is having some tough times. he was getting above water and then he got in a relationship. Wow did life do a high dive off a cliff. Steve kept trying to help the woman. He said "I thought I loved her". She was carrying to much baggage from a traumatized childhood. Steve said "I learned you can't save everyone." It ended up with both of them arrested because she was beating on him and he dialed 911. Domestic situations and they arrest both.
Steve said another couple of weeks and he will be back out of the hole he fell into. "I just hang around with the wrong people, but good people, people who aren't poor don't want me around."
We had been talking awhile and we were talking about God. I said "Steve, you should go to church." He said,"I have read the Bible, I am a Christian, but I have a problem with the church. They show up and are Christian 1 maybe 2 days a week. The rest of the week they aren't."
I said, " Steve our minister said a couple of weeks ago if you are only serving God on Sunday, you are an empty suit. You want to meet better people go to church." I will see him again next week. After he thinks about it for a week maybe I can get him to come to a church.
It's a process. It's a process for each one of us. We kind of like to think we started life all cleaned up. We started life looking good on the outside, just like a house with new siding. We forget what is under that veneer. We don't want to think of the sins we keep hidden from the world.We like to think the tile is laid and the lawn has regrown and it was not an ugly process. We like to think the laundry is always put away and we never slide back into having a messy life.
Do you know anyone like Steve? If you do, do they know you care about them as they are now. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. We have sung that for decades but do you apply it to yourself. I was lost, I was blind. I was in a hole just a different hole than Steve. Doesn't make me better than Steve, I am just further along in the process because of God's grace. I pray that I am going to see God change a life again. I would love to have Steve as a brother for eternity.
Steve had a point tonight. If we only act "christian" on Sunday and treat those who have less than us with contempt the rest of the week, God might say at the end of our life " I don't know you."
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