I’ve always dreamed of a fixer-upper, of a place I could rebuild as I could afford it. Truthfully, I envisioned an old farm house. Definitely not a mobile home. But God knows exactly what we need. And, who knows, maybe that old farmhouse is still in my future. It’d be a good place to write a book. I’m not gonna lie, I’m kinda proud of the fact that my first book was written in a trailer (that I rented). Oh, and my second is being written in a trailer (that I own).
Sometimes we wait for the revelation of God’s plan like we wait for His tangible, recognizable blessings. Joseph’s time in prison wasn’t pretty; it was dirty…he was hungry. Still, God planned—preordained to use him there. If Joseph had waited for God to use him until that time when he felt exalted or blessed, God would never have exalted or blessed him. -from Day 3, 31 Days to Lovely: A Journey of Forgiveness
And yes, I just quoted myself.
I’ve been promising you pictures of the living room, and the truth is I’m still not quite ready to reveal it. I still haven’t hung anything on the walls (though I know what I want to hang), found a rug, installed baseboards, or had the windows trimmed. But because there is really no telling when I’m gonna do those things…here, my friends, is my little home. Maybe it’s because we just came through a massive hailstorm unscathed that I’m finally posting this reveal. You know how you worry about your car in a bad storm? I’m pretty sure my house still has its wheels.
I apologize for the lack of drama in these photos (not for the lack of drama in my life). Well, these might represent a dramatic enough change, but it’s a shame that I didn’t get pictures while the walls were all brown and the floors were covered in two layers of dirty carpet. Shudder. And just the sheer measure of dirt! It’s now abundantly clear to me why some people won’t rent out their homes.
Still, it’s a good thing that the flooring was so dirty. It gave me a good reason to rip it all out (which revealed water damage that I could have fixed before the new floor went down).
Here’s the closest thing I have to a before…
And this (drum roll please) is my current after (with life happening in it, of course).
