Renovation and Change

Change is tough. It comes in different forms. There's change that we want to make. There's change that is forced upon us by circumstances outside our control. There's change that we know we need, but don't want. It's all tough.

A few years ago, my dad and I bought a house.  It was a cheap house, in really bad condition. Like, unlivable-couldn't-get-a-certificate-of-occupancy condition. We had been looking for a while, and finally found a house that we thought we could work with, and one that I thought I could live in. The stipulation was that I had to live in it for a long time, which as I mentioned in my last post- has been a area of.... difficulty for me :)

So, we found a house, battled with the bank, won, and started working. To say that we were unprepared for what this house needed would be an understatement. By the end, we had torn out all the walls, ceilings, floors in every room except one. We replaced a lot of the original framing, insulated the whole place, put up walls.  We added an attic in one room. We moved the kitchen from it's original location. We primed and painted. We bought cabinets and appliances. We waited for delivery. We spent a good amount of time staring at each other, saying, "How do we do this? What if we... nope... not gonna work...".  The lot needed new electrical service, and the whole house needed to be rewired. While we didn't do this part ourselves, it still ended up being one of the more stressful parts of the project.

part of my kitchen "before"

during renovations

after

We started work in July of 09, with intentions of being done by October 1st. We quickly figured out that was never gonna happen. From July of 09 to March of 10, my dad and I were at that house every single Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. There were countless other people there with us some days, and sometimes they were there when we weren't, simply because they were available.

bedroom upstairs during renovation

same bedroom, with some new walls

Ruthann's husband Eric did custom trim for the whole house.

Jane and Harry painted with me more times than I can count, and Jane was present for most of my "let's go to home depot and look at house stuff" trips.

Jane's brother-in-law did all the plumbing. 

My mom Marcia sent dinner for us, and cleaned up after us, and did all the weird stuff that no one else wanted to do.

My dad's youth group spent 2 full Saturday's working with us in exchange for pizza alone.

Troy and Dad spent a lot of time on built in bookcases for me.

bonus room "before"

what we found when we took that paneling down

"after" the bookcases dad and troy built

My foster brother, Robert, gave up more time than can be expected of a 17 year old, and while I wanted to hit him with my hammer at least 23 times every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, his help was pretty invaluable.

There were a ton of people who called and said, "Hey, I've got a few spare hours today- anything I can help out with at the house?"  Wasn't hard to find stuff!!

Here's the thing- the house needed to change. That change took work. A lot of work. More work than we originally thought.  We had to want to change the house, and we had to commit to making it happen. Even the days when we didn't want to.

I'm always surprised when I realize that internal change also takes work. I couldn't just say, "House, I want you to change", and then sit back and wait for it to happen. It took effort.

It's the same with all the other types of change in our lives.

We need to change our habits, our thinking, our motives, our hearts. If we want to see results, change, we have to work at it. Even on the days we don't want to. Even on the days we don't think we can.

Sometimes, all we have to do is accept change that's been set upon us. But even that still takes effort. Even that sometimes still hurts. Even that doesn't just happen.


Daniel 2:21 says about God, "He changes times and seasons...".  God can change things for us. Sometimes He brings good things. Sometimes He takes away bad things. But beyond that, He can help us through each season that comes. But He can't make the effort for us.


The best thing about change is that God doesn't. Malachi 3:6 says "I the Lord, do not change". The Psalms are full of verses they tell us God is who He is, and He will always be the same. When our circumstances change, God doesn't. When we change, God doesn't. If there's one thing we can count on to always be the same, it's Him. And that should make any type of change we face easier. More hopeful. A little bit joyful.

My heart, my life, my self won't change without effort. I'm pretty glad that I have an unchanging God to walk beside me through change. ( And that it doesn't cost as much money as changing my house did!)

I'm taking a little vacation next week- spending the week in New Hampshire, with myself, and apparently some wildlife that has been frequenting the yard. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access, or cell phone service, or TV- might be a good time to think about doing some changing :)


Brooke