Getting There!

Slowly but surely we are getting there! 

It took some time, and it took some help.....

 but I finally got the existing porch mostly removed!

Oh happy day!!!!!!!!!!

Oodie, our dog, stayed close at hand to cheer us on!!

After it was down I needed to attach the ledger board to the house and put in the joist hangers...that is the long board under the door below and those silver-y doodads.

Then we (we as in my fabulous hubby and son-in-law) dug four really deep holes....

....filled them with concrete, and inserted another silver-y doodad in a very straight line while the concrete was wet. 

And then we let it all dry!! 

And today we have four beautiful concrete piers waiting for the posts to be attached next week!!

I have needed way more help than I anticipated, but I have also learned a lot, which has been fun. 

One thing that I keep thinking about is how important it has been to keep focused on the end goal. I tend to ditch things when they get difficult....which is why I am NOT a crafty person!!...but I have tried to stay focused on the final product...the finished deck.

But....there is so much to learn in the process, and those lessons have helped to make it easier to keep working through the problems and issues I have hit.

For example...taking the existing deck down was sooooo difficult, especially taking off the decking boards on the top.

The first one that I had to get off with a pry bar took me a really long time and I got super frustrated and almost quit. 

But the thing is, after that board came off I had more faith in my ability to get the next deck board off and so on. I found that every time I was able to get through one issue, I felt more confident in my ability to conquer the next one.

The key so far for me has been staying focused on the final goal, increased confidence through trials, and knowing where to go for help...kinda similar to life.

As I walk through my life I need to keep my eye on the goal...a day when my Creator will say "Well done good and faithful servant."

But I am also learning so much through the process of life. And every trial I face increases my faith in my Creator God's ability to sustain me.

And as I journey I learn more and more where to go for help. 

Building my deck has led me to seek help from my deck design, a "How to Build a Deck" book, and people with experience.

In life I look for help from the same...my Designer, His "How to Live Life" book, and people with experience. 

So for now, I will keep on learning, asking, and building with the hope that one day soon I will sit in my rocking chair on my deck and watch the sun go down :) 

Let's Get Started!!

Hooray! My supplies arrived............

Not hooray...this was the first sentence in the instruction book.....

But that's okay, because I quickly learned my first lesson of deck building...I need help!

We are adding on to an existing deck so I really didn't think this would be a big deal. And I REALLY thought I could do most of it myself minus a couple of lessons I knew I needed.

I did NOT anticipate on needing help from both of my help sources within an hour of attempting to take down...yes, you heard me...TAKE DOWN some of the existing deck. 

Screws were stripped or broken, there were tools I didn't have, and there was this brief instance that required climbing under the deck that is already there. Normally not a big deal but right now it has a winters worth of cobwebs and yucky stuff!! :) 

Yup! It didn't quite go as I planned it. But...maybe I should lay low on the plan!!

So today looks like we are going to warm up into the 40's this afternoon so I am hoping to give it another go and try and get this thing taken apart!!

Today is the Day!!

We moved into this house almost 4 years ago...still can't believe how quickly time has passed...and from the beginning I really wanted a deck. We have beautiful land in the back of the house that just beckons to be viewed more frequently!!

I envisioned stepping out of a sliding glass door from my dining room to a huge deck in the back. I would be able to serve meals out there, have coffee out there, all the while looking at this.....

And this.......

But, the thing is, the back of our house is really high off the ground!!  Because of the basement and the shaping of the land the deck will need to be high, a window will need to be knocked out and a sliding door put in.  See.................................. :)  That middle window is where the sliding glass door will eventually be. 

To someone who is a deck pro, this might not sound like much, but to a beginner DIY-er....it's a LOT!!!!!!!!!!

So last week we decided that we are going to add a deck to the front for now. This will give us experience in deck constructing while being a tad less daunting than starting with the back. See...............  :) 

I purchased the supplies online at Menards and it is all being delivered today!! So I decided that I am going to keep track of what is going on with it on the blog.

Usually when I take on projects such as this, God uses the opportunity to teach me a few things as well, so I will let you know about those when they happen!!

So today is the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My goal is to remove the existing steps and little porch, and get all of my supplies ready!

I'll let you know how it goes!!

The Wait

Tomorrow at this time....
So when he heard Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer....
God has led you these forty years in the wilderness....
For the time will come....

I hate waiting. 
Let me make it more clear....

I. Hate. Waiting. 

I hate waiting for things that arrive later than I anticipated. 
I hate it when I have to wait on food to cook.
I hate it when I have to wait for a 2 day Amazon package to arrive.
I hate waiting on William to think through where he wants to put his house when we play Settlers of Catan. 

Now we have COVID-19 in the US and I am waiting. 

Waiting on it to strike my beloved community. 
Waiting to see if people I love and care about will suffer from it. 
Waiting to see if my family is affected by it. 

Waiting to see who it kills.

Some days I can lull myself into a faux sense of security because it hasn't hit my county yet. 
But not today.

Yesterday we had our first diagnosed case of it.

I live in a small town. A fantastic small town. And now we wait together.

And it sucks.

It makes me angry, scared, and overwhelmingly sad. And yesterday I was determined to figure out a plan. If I can just have a few plans in case A happens or B happens we will be okay. 

So I tried, and I planned. Then night came. And the futility of my plans settled deep in my soul. It felt almost as deep as the darkness did.

Then the sun came up...covered and masked by clouds, but it came up.

Around 6am I was reading my Bible in the book of Joshua chapter 11 verse 6 and it said...the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them,..."

And... I lost it.

Don't be afraid because I am going to help you....TOMORROW!!  
Well what about today?

What about right now? Why in the world do you have to wait until tomorrow?

Joshua is SURROUNDED by enemies that have come together to DESTROY him and God says...Tomorrow.

That is just torment. It's cruel. And us having to wait for this stupid virus to strike is torment and cruel. And it's just not fair.

Slowly the anger subsided and the cloud of overwhelming sadness found its familiar place and I went about my day. 

Our family observes Holy Week so I began to prepare for Maundy Thursday activities tonight. 

Maundy in Latin means command and this day is a day to celebrate Jesus' final commands and meal with his friends before He is arrested and killed on Good Friday. 

Then it hit me.  He waited.

On that day, Jesus had to share a meal with a man that he knew was about to betray him to his murderers. He shared a meal with a close friend that he knew would deny even knowing him within hours. 

Not only did he share the meal with them...he served them by washing their feet. 

All of this while he waited. While he waited to suffer and die.

I struggle waiting to see if this virus will harm or kill me. 

He waited knowing it would.

We might think....Maybe it didn't really affect him because he knew that in the end it would turn out alright??

He was in agony. He sweat drops of blood. 
In Mark Jesus says his soul was sorrowful, even to the point of death.

We think of the physical pain of the beatings and the cross, but what about the waiting? 

Even in his death there was waiting. Three days worth of waiting. 
The most amazing moment to ever occur on the earth was coming next...but there was a three day wait.

There are so many promises that tell us what is to come. 

Not promises that we won't be affected by viruses or turmoil or disaster, but promises of hope, and peace, and joy. 
Promises of being loved, and having a purpose. And promises of a day when we will see the one we love face to face.

But for now we wait. And it can be very, very hard. 

What did Jesus do while He waited?

Well, he ate!! :)  I've kinda got that one down!!!

And he commanded us two things....Remember and Love.

He himself did those two things while he waited. 

In the garden as he cried out in emotional suffering he remembered who was in control and that His plan was good...even when it didn't look good.
And he loved those around him...even those who caused him pain.

So right now I am still scared, overwhelmed, and sad, but I remember that He was to.

He chose to wait with remembrance and with love. 

I want to wait like that.

May we wait not for disaster to come, but for the sun to rise, the birds to sing, and joy to come in the morning.
May we wait with HOPE and may we wait with LOVE.