It is really easy for me to get discouraged by the lack of progress I sometimes see in our house (literal house).  We have been here almost 3 years, and everywhere I look are projects needing to be done…overwhelming in the time, thought and expense that will be necessary to accomplish them.  I have a hard time remembering what we have managed to do.  So, a list:

– This house was set up as a 2-family when we moved in.  We have taken out doors, walls, bookshelves and a bathroom to make it usable as a single family home again.

– The driveway used to be higher than our basement windows (and right next to our basement windows), causing water to literally pour into the basement.  Tim moved and re-graded the driveway to help remedy this.

– The front steps needed to be rebuilt to conform to insurance requirements.

– We have done lots of gardening.  There is currently a large-ish (I would guess about 15×35?) garden, another smaller (15×5?) garden, an herb/lettuce garden, an asparagus patch, a strawberry patch, blueberry bushes, black raspberry bushes, 3 apple trees and a cherry tree…all that we have added.  And there has been other non-vegetable/fruit gardening besides.

– The attic has been insulated.

– Tim had to make a spot for our washer and dryer in a heated and insulated part of the house, which required running new plumbing and electric.

– New footers and posts have been added to the basement to help level our slanted floors.  This was particularly challenging given the very wet nature of our basement.

– Tim dug a trench around the interior basement wall to help with the water issue.

– New support posts were added on the first floor to provide a more proper weight-bearing structure.  This also required removing a wall and putting in a large header.

– The upstairs portion of the back of the house has been mostly gutted.  Water damage from years of a leaking roof and windows basically destroyed the walls and floors.  The second story porch roof, and the dormer and part of the roof on one side were torn off, and [hopefully only temporarily] covered with OSB to stop the leaking until a plan can be formulated and executed for fixing the back portion of the house.

– Ugly, gross carpeting was ripped up in one of the kitchens.

– Random wiring has been replaced.

– The current bathroom project has required electric, plumbing, tiling, floor levelling, venting (which required chiseling through our foot thick brick wall), and wall building…with more hopefully to be done in the next few weeks.

That’s all I can think of at the moment.  In all of this, though, it has been our aim to not let the house projects be our priority.  Obviously, there are times when things have to be done.  We can’t leave the house in its current state – it would literally start falling down.  But our children, our family, and any opportunities to serve have always been put first.  It’s true that there have been times when motivation has waned and progress has been slow for no other reason than our own soul-weariness.  And there have been times when actually figuring out what the “next thing” should be is challenging…especially when there are so many whole-house issues that need addressing, and the decision maker likes to thoroughly analyze everything first to make sure every project is done with excellence.  Plus, really, most projects just take a long time when there’s pretty much only one person working on them.

But, in my tendency to become histrionic and in my very real fear that the house is falling apart faster than we can fix it, I occasionally need to take a moment to ground myself – to realize that some things have gotten done, to note that progress – however slow – has been ongoing, to recognize that life hasn’t been hindered beyond mere inconvenience by any of the items on the to-do list, to acknowledge that this house – even with its many deficiencies – is enough for us right now.  It’s hard for me to be okay with less-than-perfect.  And it’s hard for me to not dwell on all the things that have come up with this house that make me feel like nothing will ever go right.

But, right now?  I will try to just look at this moment and rest in the knowledge that God’s provision has never failed to cover our needs.