God's Time

We are making progress on the house we are working on. That is a good thing because it is rented for the first of February. 

The appliances are in and when the appliances are in we are usually wrapping up. Not this time. 

I did get an additional cupboard put up in the kitchen. We had one in storage that was a close match.

Cupboard space was adequate at best, but that extra space will be appreciated, I'm sure.

Remember this awful floor? This has been the real time consumer. I have spent days wetting and removing that stuck down pad.

The end is in sight. Final cleanup left on about 8 square feet.

 

Rich got the new breaker panel in this week. Running saws with the current going through an old fuse panel is not my favorite way to go. With breakers you can just flip the breaker back on if a saw starts to pull too many amps. (I think it is amps). Fuses blow and you have to have a new fuse, we don't keep those on hand. We have been running the saws through a surge protector so the protector would shut out before a fuse burns.

The bathroom is the major project left. I had thought we could save the vanity but the former owner had allowed the drain to leak, the drawer rails were rusty and the base wood was soft. It came out just by grabbing it and pulling. No tools needed. That means it was past needing to be replaced.

The electric outlets in the bathroom are updated with GFI. That is all that is done in the bathroom. This is the room that has me concerned with that Feb 1 end date. Shower faucet needs to be replaced and then the walls tiled. Time needed for set up and curing between each step.

There are always a few things in a house that really make you shake your head. The dryer vent was completely plugged with lint. It should have been cleaned a long time ago.

The vent had disconnected and the lint was blowing against the back wall. The 220 volt plugin completely covered in lint was a scary sight to see. That is flammable at its definition. I can almost hear it go WOOF.

Last night Sharon's family celebrated her mom's 80th birthday. It was a blessing that all the grandchildren could be there.

After the meal we lit the Christmas tree.

We started this tradition when the boys were small and we lived in the country. We had to stop when we moved to town because the city frowns on large open fires. Last year the tradition was rekindled out at Sharon's parents.

Micah and Linsey provided the tree. they admitted the had neglected to water the tree since it was purchased at the first of December. It took Joshua some effort to get it lit with the stiff breeze blowing.

There is nothing that says Christmas is over like the lighting of the tree.

Singing "Come on ring those bells, lets light the Christmas tree" as a tree is engulfed with flames bring a beautiful conclusion to the holiday season as ashes float down around you in the evening air.

As I write this the Sunday after the new year, it is time to get back to work. There have been family gatherings and a real good bout with a virus that have kept me from much progress the last 2 weeks. It's time for a new season of work. As Matthew and Meagan left for Michigan this morning we told them we wanted them to live and work where God wants them to be and where they are happy, even if that means hundreds of miles from us.

I want that for all who I know, be where God wants you to be, doing what God wants you to be doing. If God wants me scraping a wood floor and fixing a bathroom that is where I want to be. We had a couple want to rent a house from us. They told me if they could rent the house it would be an answer to prayer. I told them we pray that God will put the person he wants in our houses. I thought it was a done deal. They had prayed and we had prayed. Well it was not a done deal and we had to go our separate ways. Then 3 weeks later Eric called me to ask if we had anything open. "No, sorry, Eric we don't" 5 minutes later Amber let me know they were moving out on the 17th. I called Eric back and they rented that house for the 17th of January that night. This house is a much better fit for them than the one we both thought God wanted them in. We just had to wait 21 days for God to get it right for us.

As you enter this year make sure you are where God wants you and not just where you want to be. Be a servant of God and wait for Him to show the way. We need to be where God wants us to be and we need to be there on God's time not our time.