An Interior View

A view from our dining room looking in to my parent's kitchen

I won't lie, this building process has had some rough spots.  The last week has seemed especially tough on us as a family.  The boys have been bickering more than usual and although adults disagree in different ways, the attitudes of the heart can be much like the children.  I am going to speak for myself because I wouldn't like to implicate anyone else in my house, but this week has caused me to do some real soul searching.

Plainly, I have been asking myself this question: "no matter how pretty or functional this house is, if there isn't love, forgiveness, patience, kindness and longsuffering, will this be a house I want to live in?"  The answer is "no, it isn't."  I can give all kinds of reasons that we are under stress, whether it be the details of our build or the inconvenience of our current living conditions, but it really doesn't matter. Our Christian faith and principles must be lived out no matter what the circumstances of life may bring.

I have been challenged this week in the area of love.  When Jesus was asked by a scribe which commandment was the most important, He replied (Mark 12:29-31) "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these."

1 Corinthians 13 has also been a passage I have addressed with the boys this week. Verse 7 has been especially valuable to me "(Love/Charity) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things".   The beauty in this housing arrangement has always been about our relationships. My parents have played an integral part in the lives of our boys and I am so thankful for the closeness we share as a family.  The challenge is, under stress and inconvenience, to show love.  Putting my needs or wants aside for the needs of others is not a natural reaction, but it is the Lord's expectation of me.  My prayer this week is to live this out, and in doing so, showing others what Christ has done for me.  I am so thankful that we share the same God.  Because of that fact, I know the Lord is working on the hearts of all 7 of us, drawing us closer to Him and to each other.  He is so good and faithful!

A view from our entryway/living room

*A note about the house:  We are approaching the end of the "rough" electrical and HVAC work this week!