Another Wedding

Sharon and I just got home from a trip to Grand Rapids Michigan. We went to celebrate the wedding of our youngest son Matthew and his new bride Meagan.

Sharon did a wonderful job picking out an Air BNB for the family to stay in. It was in Holland Michigan where the reception was. It was right on Lake Macatawa.

I mean right on the lake. There was a deck outside the living room windows and then you could have stepped off into the lake. It was a bit too cold for anyone to want to take a quick dip, but it was very relaxing to sit in the living room with family and look at the lake.

Even in the dark the lights reflecting off the gently moving waves was a beautiful sight.

The rehearsal was on Friday night.

I thought the rehearsal went well, but one of the pictures I took shows the minister slapping his forehead. Maybe there was a few things that needed to be worked out??

I am wondering if Matt and Meagan needed all that rehearsal for the kiss. I would have thought they had practiced before this. Who knows about this younger generation.

Matt's cousins Seth and Jacob were the ushers. I think Seth might have realized I was taking their picture. Jacob was probably texting some girl and he didn't notice.

The groomsmen were a handsome line up. I came up short and didn't get a picture of the bridesmaids.

At the end of the evening it was Matthew and Meagan Spoelstra. That is the last of our sons married. ( Although we still have our Chinese son Tony to get married off. He will be back living with us next month working in Pella.)  We now are blessed to have 3 wonderful daughters in law.

It was a fun weekend. A time when I saw God make known his presence.

It is an unbelievable blessing to hear extended family members share their experiences of hearing the voice of God directing their lives. May all of you be so blessed.

Found

I have 3 houses up for inspection. That means I go around and test all the smoke detectors, Carbon Monoxide detectors and GFI outlets to make sure they are working.

I was in one house and found a couple of smoke detectors not working. When I pulled them down to replace the batteries, I found that the batteries were still in backwards. That is the way they are shipped in the box. I am hoping it was one of the boys who did that number and not me when we put them up new a year and a half back. There may have been smoke detectors on the walls but they were not going to warn of any fires. I checked the exhaust fan in the bathroom and then I pushed the test button on the GFI outlet above the vanity. Nothing. They do fail, so I went up to true value and bought a new outlet. On the way back over to the house, I got to thinking, maybe there was no current to the outlet. I pulled the outlet out of the wall and checked the wires. Nope, no current to the outlet. Checked all the other outlets in the house. They all worked. Went to the basement to look for the wire. I was hoping it ran straight down and I could follow it back to the breaker box. No such luck. No wire came down out of the bathroom. 

I was at a loss so I called Rich. "Rich, I have a house coming up for inspection and I have no current to a GFI in the bathroom." Rich came over to check it out. He turned on the bathroom light as he walked into the room. Click went the GFI outlet. Yea, the outlet is wired through the light switch. No lights, no current to the outlet. Rich asked me "were you working in here without the light on?"

 "Um yea, I suppose so."

At least Rich found my issue and fixed it, right?

Checked out another house today. Found the water lines to the water heater do not have 18 inches of metal pipe before they go to plastic. I sent a picture to Harrison, the inspector, to see if he would pass it or if I have to cut out the CPVC pipe and install braided metal.

Had a sewer line back up on the house we had just rented last week. Tenants 4 days in the house and the drains were plugged. Cody came over right away and cleaned roots out of the line. The access to the sewer line was in the crawl space under an addition to the house. Cody told me he would like to have a clean out outside the house, so he could check to make sure he had the lines clean and so he would not have to crawl under that floor again. Cody ran his camera down the line and then took his locator and marked where the line was outside the house. I took that to mean unless I put in the clean out I had better not call him if it plugged again.

Irv came over the next day and put in a clean out. He said he would put it down ground level so the tenant wouldn't hit it with the mower. I told Irv I wanted that thing several inches above the ground so I could find it. I had a tenant cover a clean out with dirt last year and I spent a couple of hours hunting for it. I do not want to do that again. It is one thing to have to find a clean out in the summer when you can probe and dig. In the winter it would be a nightmare to find a buried clean out.

 I got one of the old air conditioners out of the wall in the house I am working on now. There were 3 of them installed in the walls. Now there are only 2 left. I know it is cheaper to put a window air conditioner in a wall than to put in central air, but really, come if you are going to put in 3 just put in the central air. It took me a while to figure out how they had fastened the air conditioner in the wall. I finally found the unit itself was only held in by caulk and the box that held it had 4 nails driven through the sides. I spent some time hunting before I found that out.

I am totally redoing the bathroom. taking it down to the walls. I could not figure what was holding the tub in place. I could not get it to move at all. I asked Cody how cast iron tubs are fastened down. He said "They aren't. They just weigh about 200 pounds." 

I thought about that and went to get a sledge hammer. Yup, a few wacks with the sledge hammer and the tub came out.

 

It is laying in a pile on the deck. When I saw Cody later that day I said, "I got the tub out by breaking it up with a sledge hammer." Cody said, "after you left, I thought I should have told you we always break them up with a sledge hammer. You carry a cast iron tub out of a house in 5 gallon buckets." 

Nice to know I work like the pros.

When I first looked at the house I am working on now, I found where the basement stairs used to be. They had been moved and were taking up too much of the living space. I got the steps put back where they originally were this week. they may be steeper than today's code, but they will pass.

Since I had another stairway to the basement I could tear out the misplaced one. It was well installed. I had to cut everything except the stringers into 12 inch pieces to get it apart.(notice the spare air conditioner under the stairs. Suppose they had 4 running at one time??)

This morning I put the floor joists back in and laid flooring in the opening. I found that the surrounding floor is 1.875 inched thick. I had to put in several layers of flooring to get even. First 1 inch lumber, which is only 3/4 inch in today's world. Then 2 layers of 1/2 inch plywood. That left me .125 inches from even. 

The top piece to get even with the old floor is what I call pressed saw dust. Not a product I am fond of but I couldn't find anything else the right thickness to get level. It doesn't have to hold any weight because of all the wood beneath it. It will be covered by foam under-layment and laminate plank flooring, but I hope no moisture ever gets to it because it will swell up and flake. Did I mention this is in the kitchen. There are never any liquid spills in a kitchen, are there? I am thinking it would have been easier to have cut pieces of wood and screwed them to the top of the joists so I only needed the 3/4 inch boards to get the floor even. Every day is a learning experience.

So this week I found out I was too dumb to turn on the light switch to make an outlet live, I may have to replace some pipes on a water heater, I had a house with  plugged sewer line, (but I will be able to find the clean out). I found out how to take out a wall mounted air conditioner and a cast iron bath tub. I found out the pitch on stairs back 100 years was steeper than today's code, I found old lumber was actually an inch thick when you bought inch lumber (the top layer on the floor must have been put in when they had gone from full inch to .875 inch?) I found a lot of stuff.

Jesus told a parable about a women who lost a coin. She hunted and swept out her house until she found it. And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

We are in the season of Lent. As we approach Good Friday many will mourn Jesus' death. I do understand that thought pattern, but it is not what I will do. I will rejoice that I was lost and I am found. If there was rejoicing in the presence of the angels in heaven when I was found, I am going to rejoice very day that God has given me eternal life with him.

I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. God has turned my mourning into dancing. 

Next month many Christians will be sad about Jesus having to suffer for our sins, I will be singing because Jesus' suffering is past and my salvation is guaranteed. The price for my sin has been paid! Notice that? It is past tense, not the price is being paid it has been paid. I kinda feel like dancing a jig to celebrate right now.

Moving On

It has been a long hard winter. People tend to tell me I am wrong when I say it was 60 degrees on January 5. Well it was. Micah and Linsey's wedding was that day, so I remember it well.

Anyway one evening this week there were 11 deer in our back yard. The snow cover was not melted yet .

They were eating the needles on the evergreen trees. I don't know how much nutrition there is in evergreen needles, but I am guessing that is not their first choice for fodder.

On Friday, Sharon and I went to Joshua Christian Academy for their Partner's Day. When they sing a praise song at JCA everyone sways to the music. they take praising God seriously.

Sharon and I each went to a different classroom to interact with the students and have lunch. Lunch was provided by Chick-fil-A. 

The students found it hard to believe I had never eaten Chick-fil-A before.

We stopped at the DAV thrift store before we went to JCA. I found this leaded glass chandelier for $4.95. It will definitely be a beautiful addition to some house. 

I was able to walk out of the house I was working on this week. It even passed city inspection today. The house needs siding and a new roof yet, but the new tenants are moving in today. The inspector wants the siding and roof done by the end of the summer. That works for me because I do not want this house to go through another winter with out being weather-proofed.

I was able to get my closet door up in the master bedroom. 2 antique windows on a barn door rail. When the tenants were going through the house the mom called out to the kids, "come and look at mommy's closet door." I think she liked it.

It never ceases to amaze me what people will keep. In the top of the garage of the house, I am starting on now, was a stack of florescent light bulbs. I am guessing they are all burned out. Doesn't really matter if they are or not, they are all going to be disposed of. I remove all florescent fixtures. I hate them. 4 fixtures out of the garage went to the landfill on Thursday and new fixtures with turn in LED bulbs went up.

We are going to replace the cupboards. These are hideously filthy. Today I found the stickers from when it was new are still on the counter top. I was going to throw it away but now that I know it is almost new I am going to try to clean it up and reuse it.

The kitchen is going to have to be reconfigured. How could anyone have ever thought it was a good idea to put the range here?? Unless you want to get on your knees and have long arms, a lot of storage space is wasted.

  

There were 2 pantries in the kitchen area. They were where the basement stairs originally were. The basement stairs are going back where they originally were. I have all the shelving and walls removed. pulling up the floor has turned out to be a bit more difficult. I went down in the basement and removed all the screws I could find and it still won't budge. I think I will be cutting it into small pieces with a saws-all next week.

The deer are on the move. Looking for the last food available before the spring growth starts. The kids and staff at JCA are on the move when they sing. Not a one of them stands still. One person gives away a leaded glass chandelier and it finds its way to me. Florescent bulbs kept by someone are going to be moved to rubbish. Technology has moved on and LED is a better option. I was able to move from one house to the next. The kitchen appliances in this house need to be moved.

Nothing is static. Some want the world to stay the same and never change. They want life like it was back in 1965. I grew up in the late 60s and early 70s. I don't want to go back. I like having information at my finger tips. As I look back, I don't think it was such a great time. In my world we were all the same. We dressed the same we thought the same, we looked the same. The world has moved on and I rejoice in the move. As a poorly moved basement stairs should be moved back to its original spot, there are times to say we have moved to far too fast, but we shouldn't make a habit of that thought pattern.

God is bringing his kingdom to fruition and for that to happen things have to move. You can't, and shouldn't want, to turn the clock back. Every day should be a new adventure of moving forward with God as he builds his kingdom.

Inside cleaned up

It's Sunday morning and I am not getting ready to go to church. I have a cold or influenza or some creeping crud. I could probably survive sitting through a hour service and I wanted to meet and talk to a few people this morning, but if I go and spend time in a crowd I am allowing others to be infected. That would show a lack of love and perhaps some of the legalism of my parents generation. We went to church as long as we could stand upright, sort of, if you slumped a bit while you were walking you were still good enough to go. If you didn't go it showed a lack of love for God. Now I realize sharing a virus with my neighbor shows a lack of love for my neighbor and by extension a lack of understanding God's love.

I didn't get sick till Friday. Sharon told me I should take a day off. Then what? Sit at home and feel miserable. I'm not some weenie! I soldiered on. I just hope I don't have to redo what I did on Friday and Saturday. Anyway, I am now able to see the light at the end of the tunnel on the house we have been working on. It is hard to see in this picture, but the blinds are up on the the windows upstairs. When you start hanging window treatments you are backing out of a house.

Doors are finished and actually have door knobs.

Always save some cardboard for the end. Polyurethane drips a lot. Much easier to slide a flooring box under the door and just pick up the cardboard and throw it away when finished. 

There are even clothes rods installed in one bedroom. The other bedroom upstairs still needs one, but that is the last project on the second floor.

 

I painted the interior of the exterior doors yesterday.

Sharon says she likes the earth tone colors in this house. The doors are painted "Mars Clay". I am not sure that is an earth tone. Extraterrestrial tone perhaps??

The bedroom on the ground floor has the finish on the floor. I was able to save the original wood flooring. It has some "Character". A few scratches and stains to show its age. On Tuesday a barn rail system is to be delivered. It will hold the sliding door for the closet.

I have built the closet door out of 2 antique windows. We will see how this project turns out. Question is, do I leave the glass panes transparent or do I spay the back side with a white paint to make them translucent?

The living room and hall floors have been cleaned and are ready for polyurethane. I wonder what was drug across the floor to make those scratches about an inch apart. They are deep enough they are not going to sand out, so once again some character to the floor.

The kitchen sink is in. The sink came without the holes for the faucet drilled. I found out you drill coriander with a regular hole saw. Who would have thought.

When we bought this house it was a total wreck. I removed the broken side door and replaced it the first week. 2 neighbors stopped to say they appreciated the broken door being fixed. Now the inside of the house looks pretty good. The out side needs a lot of work

Need some warmer weather to put on new siding and roof. Once that is finished this summer, the house will look good both inside and outside.

As I started writing today, I was thinking of how we used to go to church even when we were sick. It was important how we were viewed from the outside. Maybe inside we were a mess, but everyone else couldn't see that. We were quick to judge on what we saw instead of trying to understand the causes of what we saw in others.

As I have gained some experience dealing with people, I have found that some of those my ancestors would have judged as sinners, have an unseen side that knows the love and forgiveness of God.

That is more important, isn't it?

When Jesus was condemning the legalistic people of his day, he said,"Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."

If you look at this house just from the outside, it is a wreck. If you take the time to walk inside and look, you find it is all cleaned up and new. Take the time to walk into some people's lives, hear their stories, and maybe rejoice in God's grace.

I had a woman share with me last week that when she was younger she was a drug addict. A friend helped her get clean. She said if she had been caught, she would have had her children removed from her home. Only because of God's grace was she able to break out of the addiction and she never lost her children. Her life looked like a wreck on the outside but God was working on a rehab on the inside. You know, come to think of it, He is on a lot of us.

Old has value sometimes??

At church last week I had a woman tell me she was the same age as me. I said I doubt that, I'm 60. I thought she was going to have a heart attack. "I'm not that old" she exclaimed. I'm glad she thought I was about 50 years old, but lets be serious, I have a mirror. I have seen the ravages of time.

I am a firm believer in accepting the age you are. I don't want to be one of those people who are trying to stay young forever. There are some advantages to being, well we'll call it mature. I'm not quite ready to say I am old yet. 

But old things have value, and that includes old people. There is some wisdom that can only be gained by experience and, yes, age. The trim on that doorway is well over 100 years old.

 

I have been taking old boards that were removed from the house by the previous owner and resurfacing them. I cut about 1/8 of an inch off the surfaces to get down to unpainted wood.

It takes more time than just cutting a new trim board and it only saves about $24 per door frame. On 9 door frames that would only amount to $216 on this project. Even though $216 is not pocket change, it isn't much on a $25,000 budget and I am throwing in a few extra hours labor as well.

It is the same with the floors. I am going to clean them up and reseal them. It would be just as fast to lay a new floor over the old one, but I get a lot of satisfaction from making something old look good again.

There are times when the old can not be reused and the kitchen floor was certainly one of those floors.

Old linoleum with holes worn through it. Definitely needed to be covered over with something new.

Traditions can be that way. They can have wonderful value or they can be well past usefulness. It takes some wisdom to figure out which is which. When is it time to move on to something new and when is it time to just polish up the old?  

I hope I can be able to listen to the ideas of the youth of today without immediately saying "that's not how it has been done in the past." I hope the younger people can listen to me and not immediately say, "that old guy's ideas are way past usefulness." There is a time for old and a time for new, may God give us the wisdom to figure out which is which.