Renovations

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Jesus Has Our Back

Most of this year we've been renovating our house, we're nearly finished now and just tidying up the last few hundred details. We did five rooms this time, our bedroom and ensuite bathroom, the living room, and the kitchen and laundry.

It's been really exciting, but also very hard work for me as I've been the key player while Trish continues to teach. She and I made the big decisions together, then I did the detailed planning and much of the shopping, also the project management and much of the work. I got really, really stressed! So many balls had to be gotten into the air, then kept there! Too often I worked a 12 or 14 hour day (and I turned 74 right in the middle of it all).

Throughout I've been so aware: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).

We went for a Mexican hacienda look, (I'm told that it's really called "Santa Fe"). We found these lovely terra-cotta-like ceramic floor tiles, with just the slightest red blush; they are now laid in our bedroom and right through the living room too, we're delighted; when friends or family see them for the first time they all smile and say: "O, yes". Ceilings are white and the walls slightly off-white. We now have wooden venetian blinds, lots of timber, blues and greens, dozens of plants, even bamboos, and all our many paintings, photos and books.

It's those many times when I've come completely to the end of my rope that I want to share about here. Jesus had my back the whole time; when my hands became so tired that I couldn't grip things properly I would become aware that He had changed some aspect of the task and it was now easier. Or a simple, clear idea would come into my mind, right out of left field, and an impossible or very worrying problem would suddenly have a solution.

We wanted to be able to completely empty rooms as we progressed. I thought we could put the furniture and all the other stuff out on the patio and cover it with tarpaulins, but concluded that there would be weather damage no matter how careful we were, (it was coming up to mid-winter here). There is a storage facility near our house but this would be expensive and we would have to rent trucks to carry everything back and forth and would need heaps of man-power. A few days before we were to start work I was doing our laundry when the word "container" popped into my head. Within hours our Shire engineer gave me copies of the local laws about using sea containers for domestic building projects; then after a quick search I found Huska, on the other side of the country, who for a modest cost arranged for a 20 foot (6 metre) container to be dropped (gently) onto our driveway in two days time. I mention Huska by name, not only was his quote the best, he responded instantly to all my requests and was just the greatest guy to work with. So lovely. The container was weather-proof, clean, very secure, a perfect size, right where it was needed, just in time! This was Jesus speaking a word, by His Spirit, into my worried heart and solving such a big problem! A miracle. Many times I felt that Jesus helped in my Internet searches, I found such great suppliers!

God does speak to His people, "To .. another is given a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:8), after all, we have been brought into His family as His children (John 1:12, Romans 8:14) and our loving, generous Father knows everything and wants to help and to participate in our lives!

Trish and I have six grown children and were delighted and grateful that they helped us so much, but their availability did not always match our needs, particularly on weekdays. So we were more than blessed to have some men along from a half-way house our church has set up. These guys are amazing, they are all in recovery from drugs or alcohol and some quite recently in from "the life", mostly they have workmanlike skills, they are very keen and worked for a modest hourly rate, cash, and were very thankful to be given the work (partly, I think, because time can pass slowly in the half-way-house when there are no planned activities or teaching). They were such a God-send when we were humping furniture, getting wall after wall of so-very-stuck-on wallpaper off, and prepping for the painting! We fed these guys like princes and gave them the very best coffee. There was a real sense that Jesus was there with us, and not just in our conversations and singing; everyone was being blessed by this shared work.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord .." (Colossians 3:23).

"God .. will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people .." (Hebrews 6:10).

Tradesmen we had built relationships with over many years were unavailable for different reasons. I found this pretty scary; you hear stories of people being stranded with a job half done or getting poor quality work or even being ripped off financially by trades people they don't know well. Once again Jesus went before us. The people who were recommended to us were all available when we were ready for them, they were sweet people and straight shooters who did truly excellent work at reasonable prices. Our house shines ..

We are told that the Bible is the "living word" of God (1 Peter 1:23). This huge project is another demonstration of the truth of this: Jesus' nearness and guidance and influence and His light make a massive difference in all the every-day workings of our lives!

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'" (John 8:12), my experiences over many years testify to the truth of these words.

Trish and I are as different as chalk and cheese yet we worked hard together for months, planning and making dozens and dozens of decisions. It's been wonderfully peaceful! These renovations have been a long time coming and it is such a joy for me to know that she will have a lovely, (and solid), house to live in after I'm gone home to be with Jesus.

"The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore" (Psalm 121:8).

So, thank you Jesus, and Father, and Holy Spirit, and family, and brothers and sisters, for all your help.

Hallelujah!

Favourite Scriptures

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:15-17).

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4).

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code" (Romans 7:6).

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

"He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord" (Proverbs 18:22).

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies" (Proverbs 31:10).

"Enjoy life with the wife you love each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God's gift .." (Ecclesiastes 9:9).

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.