No one builds a house or renovates an older one without it
costing something and there are always extra, unexpected things that are needed
that raise the cost even more. The question becomes, “Are we willing to pay
what will be required of us?” This is a question I’ve been wrestling with
lately.
I’ve never wanted to build a new house. First of all, I
prefer living in an older home with character and a story to it and, second of
all, I don’t want the stress that’s particular to building something new,
especially something that’s hard for me to envision since it doesn’t yet exist.
I’m a visual learner and if I can’t envision something, I really struggle with
grasping the concept. I fully believe that’s why God is gracious enough to
speak to me in pictures. He knows how He made me and what I need in order to
understand.
I love the idea of renovating that which is old, breathing
life back into it, and finding its inner beauty, whether in a piece of
furniture or in a home. It means even more to me if I can uncover a story
connected to it and it has ties to other people. You can point out nearly
anything in our home and I can tell you a story behind it.
One of the challenges with renovating or refurbishing is the
mess that it creates. When I refinish a piece furniture, I can keep the mess
contained to a particular area, but when someone renovates a home, the mess
seeps into everything as dust fills the air and goes into the vents and ducts. If
it’s not properly sealed off from the rest of the house everyone and everything
living in or in proximity to it gets covered in the mess.
Personally, I’m not one who likes things to be messy. I like
order and cleanliness. I like everything to be in its place and I have a
specific place for each item. Having our home be like that gives me a sense of
security and peace and makes me feel as if I have a measure of control over at
least some aspect of my life. Recently, Bri has taken great delight in
rearranging my spice cabinet on me, just because he knows what my reaction will
be when I find that my spices are no longer in alphabetical order. Welcome to
OUR world…
Renovation isn’t easy. It totally disrupts “normal” life,
nothing ever goes as planned and it generally ends up costing more than
expected. I’m going to be completely honest. Sometimes I’m not sure if I want
to pay the cost and have things get messy and out of control. I don’t
necessarily want to be inconvenienced or have my comforts infringed upon and my
life disrupted. There are times when I struggle with this, especially when it
entails something that I really don’t know what sacrifices will be required to
see the dream or vision fulfilled.
I really believe that those who renovate their homes or even
build something entirely new are courageous. You have to be courageous to take
the risk and give up control to Someone who’s qualified to do the job. There’s
a certain degree of fearlessness that’s required to make the decision to be
willing to pay the price of renovation and building, knowing it will cost more
than you’ve been made aware that it will and that it will test you to the end
of who you are and require complete surrender to your Carpenter. That’s a scary
decision to make.
What would motivate someone enough to begin the process? I
think there are a lot of answers that can be given, but the one that I believe
most answers would be founded on is love because so much comes as a result of
relationship founded on love. Maybe the decision to renovate comes from knowing
that a renovation would better the relationships that are dear to you, much the
same as opening up the kitchen to connect with the family room to create a “great
room” in which people could be together while meals are being made draws people
closer to one another and deepens connections. In making the decision to allow
personal renovation to occur, relationship connections can heal, deepen, or
become enriched as we allow the work to happen within us.
Ultimately, I think much of it comes from the depth of
relationship we share with our General Contractor, Architect, Carpenter,
Designer – the ONE who fills all of those roles. When we are deeply connected
to Him and love Him completely, we can trust Him, knowing that the plans He has
are the very best plans to meet not only our needs, but also the needs of each
of those who enter our “homes.” If we can surrender to His direction and be
willing to go through the process, even knowing that it won’t necessarily be
easy, we can take the risk, being fearless because we KNOW we are loved.
In her book, Birthing
the Miraculous, Heidi Baker writes, “…you can be truly fearless only when
you are in love – when you are immersed and yielded to the point that you do
not care about the cost.”1
When your depth of love
for your Creator deepens and you recognize that you are loved even more than He
loves you, only the dream…the vision…the plans of the Architect that are rooted
within your heart matter and the cost and mess that will ensue become
inconsequential in the light of that great love.
When we really stop to think about it, any cost that we
could make would pale in comparison to the One that was already paid for on our
behalf.
Are you willing to be fearless in the face of this
immeasurable love and be courageous enough, brave enough, to begin or continue
on in the renovation process?
1.
Heidi Baker, Birthing
the Miraculous, The Power of Personal Encounters with God to Change Your Life
and the World (Lake Mary: Charisma House), 68.
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