The Big Move

CRAZY WEEK.
We had a good time with family on Dec. 23 and 24. On Christmas day, we had breakfast at our daughter Emily's house and enjoyed their girls showing off all their gifts. Then, we went home and started packing.
On Wed, Dec. 26, we started moving. Our friend Belinda came over and we took several loads of boxes to a storage building, and a load to the the new house garage. More packing on Thursday, and Rusty helped Les move the appliances over. Friday, our daughter Libby, husband Mike and their children came over and helped with the final (for now) loads. We left the garage for later. One of the benefits of selling your house to a family member!

Mike, Libby, and Carter helped me finish tearing down the back fence.

Then, Mike and Carter tore down the walls of a pantry in the kitchen to make room for our refrigerator. I took a lot of pictures, but can't seem to find them. Maybe they will show up somewhere and I'll show them. Mike and Carter did a great job. The walls are solid wood under Sheetrock, so tearing them down is really hard work. The only picture I found shows Carter as they begin the job.

On Saturday, Melody, Brad, and Aspen came down, along with Katy and Kyle. While the girls went to lunch and visited at Emily's, the guys worked. Our friend, helper, and sort of contractor said that we could take down the wall between the living/dining room and kitchen, if we put a beam across the top. Les had thought that we couldn't do that because it is a load bearing wall, so, plan b was to cut out a large opening and put a bar in. I was thrilled to learn that we could safely remove the whole wall, really opening the area up.
So, while Les continued working on the hall bathroom, Brad and Kyle tore out that wall. The pictures show the progress.

These two pictures show the bathroom, fully gutted, rotten floor removed.

Great progress for week 2!

We Bought a Well

One reason we decided to start this new adventure was because we felt that God wants us to reach beyond ourselves more, to give more, to spend ourselves and our money on the needs of other people.

One of the biggest pulls on our hearts is for the children around the world who live in perilous poverty. The facts about poverty are devastating. Just look at these. (based on information from the United Nations).

1.4 billion people in developing countries live on $1.25 a day or less.

870 million people do not have enough to eat — more than the populations of USA and the European Union combined.

Malnutrition is the key factor contributing to more than one-third of all global child deaths resulting in 2.6 million deaths per year.

22,000 children die each day due to conditions of poverty

Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.

1.7 billion people lack access to clean water.

2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year.

Every day more than 4,000 children die of water-and sanitation-related diseases.

There are many organizations that work hard to fight poverty and hunger and help the poorest of the world meet their basic needs. One of these is World Vision. We sponsor two children through World Vision, and give to help meet special needs during the year. A few years ago, I read The Hole in Our Gospel by Rich Stearnes, the President of World Vision United States. We were both very moved by the story and the realization that we live in a world of 160 million orphans, a world where 22,000 children die each day from poverty related diseases, a world where 1.4 billion people struggle just to find food to eat each day.
(If you are interested in this topic, two other books that had a huge impact on us are Radical by David Platt and Crazy Love by Francis Chan).

After reading The Hole in Our Gospel, we immediately knew we had to do something, and the simplest thing was to sponsor a child. I love knowing that the small amount of money that we give truly makes a difference in the lives of two children; Charles from Zambia, and Junett from the Congo.

Every year, WV sends out a gift catalog with gifts that we can buy to give to people and communities in developing countries. This year, when we looked through the catalog, we decided to give a well to a community that needs it.

According to the World Vision website;
In countries like Malawi, a well just 60 feet deep can bring new health and life to a community of 150 people. The well your gift provides will be capable of supplying more than 600 gallons of safe water a day for drinking, bathing, irrigating crops, and watering livestock.

Check out the gift catalog at worldvisiongifts.org.

A small prayer group I am part of bought a goat and two chickens for a family instead of buying gifts for each other (well, that was the idea anyway). What joy to know that a small amount of our income can impact lives to such an extent. 

Week One

One week, and we have made good progress. 

Foundation leveled.
Carpet pulled up.
Linoleum scrapped up from kitchen.
Closet built for the furnace and water heater.
Central heat and air installed.

Old range pulled out.
New range and dishwasher purchased.
Several doors removed.
Hall bathroom completely gutted.

I got pulled up the linoleum and scraped the kitchen floor

The floor looks pretty rough right now,
but will be good when it is sanded and refinished. 

 

starting to tear out the batthroom

the partial wall build to hide the plumbing is removed

the only way to get the 450 lb iron tub out was to cut in two 

This thing should bring some cash at the recycle place.

Every time I go to the house, I am bothered by the old wood fence in the back yard. It is an eyesore, and it blocks the view of the property. Today, when I walked by, I wondered if I could kick it down, so I tried.

and I did it, at least a start.

Pretty good for one week. We also packed up this house. We will take a few days off to celebrate Christmas with our family, then we will move our things into the garage on Dec. 26, and stay in a friends RV until we can move in. 

Merry Christmas everyone.  

So Busy!

We have been hard at work this week, and have gotten a lot done.

Thanks to Ricky King and his helper,
 the foundation is level.
(The picture is of the level at the end of the job. The pictures of the guys going under the house to do the work were too dark.



Mangrums Heat and Air started installing the new system on Monday, but could not come back to complete it until Friday.

The Post office required a mail box on the street. We can't use the clever drop in mail slot :(. 

Rod Rutledge, of Rutledge Electric came out to inspect the electrical wiring. Sure nuff, a lot has to be replaced. 
A lot more has been done, but I can't seem to manage blogger this morning. I don't know why I am typing in blue with underlining, or why there must be all this space. I am beginning to feel frustrated and I need to go on with my day. I will try again later!!! 

The Dreamers; Disproving the Notion that Your Best Years are Behind You Part 2

From Les

Elijah followed the promptings of God and remained engaged in His work until the chariot of fire swept him up to heaven. He wasn’t waiting for his departure – but pressed onward until he was taken. There never was any doubt thought time was too short to do anything of importance for God or that he could be of any significance.

Nicodemus was a mature Pharisee and a man of authority, as well as quite respected among his peers for his wisdom. He could have coasted to the end in the comfort and security of his prestigious position and reaped all of the benefits thereof. Yet, his heart compelled him to seek out Jesus and come face to face with the messenger of life. Thanks to this man’s willingness to risk reputation and career, we have the record of one of the most significant encounters with the Savior and the truths that were spoken. Later, Nicodemus would be publicly labeled as a fool by those same peers, though his heart would pulsate with a newly found fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He learned that being led by the heart of faith was far more excellent than prestige. Paul would state this later in his letter to the Philippians.

John spent his retirement in exile on a desolate rock island in the Mediterranean. Having no shelter or provisions he found himself in survival mode, and yet remained faithful and engaged in the work of Christ. He never entertained the thought of being out of touch with the Savior. In fact, he somehow kept count of the days and continued to set apart the Lord’s Day for worship. As a result, Christ revealed Himself to John and told him to make a record of the revelation. Not only so, but to relay the Lord’s admonitions to the seven churches in Asia. If John had given up in defeat and withered away, who would the Lord have to with the last revelation of Himself? John showed us that remaining engaged in the work – in the face of hardship, undeserved predicament, or just trying to survive each day . . . can be done.

With these few examples it is obvious that “finishing well” is a choice of mind. It is a lifestyle of determination to never coast but to press on. It is a conviction that through our aging process, God has invested so much grace and potential, and He expects us to walk in it as living sacrifices until our last breath.

The life goal of being retired and spending all the time you want fishing or golfing has been highly over-rated. This is not a biased statement I am making to reinforce this series on mid-life perspectives. I suspect a survey of Christian retirees would show that the majority are living in survival mode to some degree as they wrestle with rising healthcare costs, along with the uncertainties about Social Security, national security, and Dementia. All of these concerns can syphon away our vitality. This zest for living can only come from the giver of life, who calls us to embrace our value to God and to those around us. Our steadfastness to remain engaged in the lives of people, and utilizing what God has invested in us becomes an ongoing ministry of life-on-life which fills our heart with a real sense of purpose.

(to be continued)  

We've Started Work

We were able to take possession of the house last week, and we started on the remodel right away. One of the first things we want to do is get the heat and air done. The house has central heat and air which has not worked for some time. One of the first things we want to do is replace the furnace and compressor, using the duct work already there. There is an extra closet in the master bedroom we can use for the furnace, but it isn't deep enough. Also, we want to move the water heater out of the bathroom.
Les and a friend tore the walls to enlarge the closet to enclose the furnace and the water heater.
He KICKED out the wall!! Whoo hoo! Ninja skills! You can see his stance in the first picture.

After he tore the walls down, he began building the new walls, taking the closet 6 inches into the living room.

      

I got involved in the work this afternoon. I tore out carpet, very dirty, dusty carpet. Les insisted that I wear a mask.

Can you see the panic in my eyes? I felt like I couldn't breathe in it. I am so claustrophobic, it was awful.

When we started this work, we realized that there would be a lot of surprises, and we should expect anything. Well, our first surprise was not a good one. When the water was turned on, water POURED out of the washing machine connection. We were very glad that Les was in the house and heard the water, or we would have really had a problem. He quickly turned the water off. Tomorrow, the plummer will come. The washer connection is added to his work list.
The second surprise was much better. When we pulled the carpet up, we found nice hardwood floors in fairly good shape. So far, it looks like we can sand them down and stain them and have really beautiful hardwood floors.

We were surprised because the man who inspected the foundation said it looked like the house had been added on several times, and there were a lot of seams with different floors, so we probably would have to put in new flooring.

A little interesting find was the original wall, which was wood, covered with wall paper. The demolition revealed this where we pulled off the door facing.

This close-up shows the pretty detail.

Tomorrow, Mangrums Heat and Air will come first thing in the morning to install the new heat and air conditioning.
The plumber will come to repair the leak in the hall bathroom and move the water heater to the new closet (and repair the leak in the laundry room).
The foundation repairman will come shore up some damaged piers.
We are off and running.

The Dreamers

Post from Les 

The following are excerpts from a Sunday School Topical Series I wrote in 2004 entitled

The Dreamers

Addressing Challenges for Mid-Life and Senior Christians

Part 2 - Living Out the Legacy of Obedience to the End

“And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years. Here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me, just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going in and for going out. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day.

It may be that the Lord is with me . . .” Joshua 14:10-12

Disproving the Notion that Your Best Years are Behind You

ADOPTING the spirit of Caleb as your life long battle cry.

DISREGARDING how the world has idolized youthfulness and developed phobias about age.

CONFRONTING the lie that you have nothing further to offer the Lord in your senior years.

REFUSING the inclination to think you deserve to coast into idle retirement.

BELIEVING that after all you have been through, you’re more useful now than ever before.

RESTING in the knowledge that you don’t have to compare yourself with anybody else.

STAYING focused on the “tried and proven” things in life that really matter.

REDEEMING the time, considering how fast it has flown by, and determining to finish well.

REMAINING obedient to the Lord’s calling to follow Him wherever He goes.

PRESENTING yourself a living sacrifice while you still have breath.

CATCHING fish in obedience to Jesus when your work day is over.

SAVING the best wine for the finish.

Society constantly bombards us with messages that youth is "god" - that being young, or at least looking young, is the premier thing to value in life. Once your birthdays have passed it by, there’s actually very little to get excited about or talk about – just hope that Social Security will be there when you retire. But what does the bible say about growing old . . . or what value does God attribute to being a person of experience? I believe He places great expectations on us in this season of life.

Joshua was 57 years old when he and Caleb spied out the Promised Land and returned with a good report. He was 95 years old when Moses died and God told him to assume responsibility to lead the children of Israel across the Jordan and take possession of the land and conquer all the inhabitants.

Caleb’s legacy of having “another spirit” is forever etched in our frame of reference when we talk about looking past the apparent obstacles in our path and determining to focus on the potential God gives us to overcome. What he states boldly at the age of 85 may or may not have startled Joshua, but it most certainly catches our attention. I believe this was far more than what people commonly refer to as a positive or can-do attitude. This was a demonstration of just how much influence the Spirit of God can have on our level of expectation in life. Caleb was not boasting about his strengths or savvy to deal with adversity. He was, however, speaking from the position of faith and absolute trust in God’s ability to supply, equip and defend.

Joshua observed this in Caleb’s heart, and with a heart like that, God can do so much. Paul charged the saints in Ephesus to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind” which is the same thing . . . to allow the indwelling spirit to have complete access to your thinking and viewpoints. This admonition pertains to our entire Christian walk, but as seen in Caleb, is especially important the older we get.

(to be continued)