Renovations on our bedroom are going nicely this week…

We seem to be mostly on track with the planned schedule this week, perhaps only a little behind, even though there were a lot of unexpected “foundational” issues that were discovered that needed to be repaired before we could move into “building”…

Old damage to the foundational places in the walls, weakened from where termites infested this house before we bought it…

Extremely old (and dangerous) electrical wiring that desperately needed replacing…

We had to get the old out before we could start on the new. ? ⛏ ?

Yesterday we were finally able to begin building the structure of the new part of the closet, and we pulled the wire for the new receptacles we’re putting in the room.

It felt good to get to build…

It felt good to begin some painting…

It felt good to see the new structure beginning to take form…

But you know, when you’re right smack in the middle of home renovations, sometimes all you can think of is how glad you’ll be to be out of the mess, to be finished, to be done with all of it eventually—and sooner than later.

You really just want to be on the other side of all of it.

You really just want to be done.

But here in the middle of it all…

In the middle of the uprooting…

In the middle of the tearing down…

In the middle of the mess…

In the middle of the realizations of things that need to change…

It’s where He meets us. ?✨☀️ And it’s a beautiful in-between place.

Right in the middle of the most chaotic mess…

…if we look, if we notice, if we pay attention…

We’ll find and we’ll discover the most tender lessons from our Heavenly Father. Right “here and now”…

We’ll find these golden times where He is teaching us, and where He’s right there with us, where we can see and realize that He’s doing it for our good, and so WE CAN BUILD WITH HIM. ???‍♀️??‍♂️

He’s inviting us into a place of messy and inconvenient “renovation” where He meets us there, and together, we uproot, we tear down, we pull up, we tear out all of the things that are keeping us from building, all of the things that are hindering our lives, all of the things that are hiding in the “house” that could be a danger to us.

And He’s doing it so that He can build with us, so that He can do a new thing, with us! And through us…

But the whole process is good. The whole process is important. The whole process is necessary. And He wants us to learn to find Him, and to find joy in every part!

So while I’ll be glad for ALL of these renovations to be behind us, and we have many phases yet to go here in this house, I am realizing that He wants me to enjoy exactly where I am, right now, in the process. I am realizing that He has hidden treasures in all of this, and He has prepared JOY within these kinds of times for me, if I open my eyes to see it, if I keep a thankful heart, and if I stay in tune with Him so that He can help me to see what He wants me to see.

There can be tremendous joy in these kinds of processes, and He plants it there like a hidden treasure for us to discover. ✨✍?

He’s right here. It’s the place where He meets us. ?

Even if the process seems to be long and drawn out, even if it’s messy, even if the process seems to take up way too much time, or even more time than expected…

This is the place where He says,

“Let’s get started on this process so that we can build something beautiful together! And I want you to learn to find joy in every part of this process…. and yes, it’s possible… because I am here in all of it with you! You are not alone. We’re in this together!”

Thank You, Father. ?

-Heather ?