Gave Me a Chuckle

In the offer that was presented to us, in the selling of our home, one of the things the buyer listed in the "conditional" section is that we leave the house clean, swept and free of garbage and recycle.

Like we weren't going to do that anyways.

Then I said to Geoff imagine us including that in the offer we put on the Nova Scotia house. That thought gave us a good chuckle.

I wish I had a virtual tour of what we saw the day we looked at that 170 year old house.
The last 20 years it's been owned by a bachelor who was more busy cutting wood, baling hay and building a barn then keeping house. Not to mention he's had his aging mother living there as well.

First thing the agent said when she saw us was "The kitchen and bathroom are gutters. Nothing in them works and they need to be gutted and re-done".

The "curtains" are towels nailed to window frames....with about 20 years of dust on them.
Wallpaper is peeling.
A ceiling is missing.
Scattered haphazardly are clothes, furniture and assorted "stuff.  It's like a giant picked up the house, shook it and set it back on it's foundation. There is no comfy (or even uncomfy) place to sit and relax, rest, read or eat.

To our amazement as the agent was showing us the place she kept saying things like, "Oh good, he's been cleaning up" or "Wow, this looks better, his mother must be helping"
And we were like "Where? What!? THIS is better?!?"  haha

But we looked at the "bones" and not the "skin deep beauty" and could tell the structure was good. It is mostly just cosmetics that need doing. Just a touch of make-up is needed, not plastic surgery.

It's always been our mission and goal to leave this place a little better then we found it. :) Be it a house, town, person, family, church.....  the world......   Making something from nothing. Fixing the broken. Mending instead of tossing. Being creative and finding ways to rejuvenate, re-purpose, re-cycle is thrilling.

That being the case, this house we've bought in Nova Scotia should keep us "thrilled" for some time! haha

Cause we aren't expecting it to be swept clean with no garbage lying around.
Instead we have black bags, face masks, rags, cleaners, buckets and rubber gloves being packed separate since they will be needed first.

Since our new house isn't move in ready all of our belongings will be going into the barn until we carve out a decent spot for it all. It's been several years since animals lived in it, so it isn't smelly. Tarps are cheap and we are wrapping everything up tight.  Second thing, after we unload and drop off the U-Hal, is to find and purchase a trailer. It will be  our "Command Center" and home while we get to work.

When I was a young teen (that was back in the day when young teens still did things like own colouring books and actually colour in them) and young children came to visit, I would let them "colour" (aka scribble) in my colouring book.  I would cringe only slightly at their reckless abandon as they thoughtlessly messed up a few pages in my otherwise pristine colouring book. I wasn't worried, there were very few "scribbles" that I couldn't improve upon. My goal and challenge was to "redeem" the ruined page and by the time I was done, you could hardly tell that a young child had been in contact with my book.

I have moved from colouring books to houses. I relish this new challenge to tidy up the "scribble" that this very old house has become.....it's going to be fun....most days.
But I am not wearing rose-coloured glasses. There will be days that will be less then enjoyable and my tennis-elbow is reminding me that there might be pain involved as well.

I will have to keep this devotion from Streams in the Desert in mind.

Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. (1 Cor 16:13)

Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle.
—Phillips Brooks

We must remember that it is not in any easy or self-indulgent life that Christ will lead us to greatness. The easy life leads not upward, but downward. Heaven always is above us, and we must ever be looking up toward it. There are some people who always avoid things that are costly, that require self-denial, or self-restraint and sacrifice, but toil and hardship show us the only way to nobleness. Greatness comes not by having a mossy path made for you through the meadow, but by being sent to hew out a roadway by your own hands. Are you going to reach the mountain splendors?
—Selected

Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.
Shun not the struggle; face it. ’Tis God’s gift.

Be strong!
Say not the days are evil—Who’s to blame?
And fold the hands and acquiesece—O shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, In God’s name.

Be strong!
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long,
Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.
—Maltbie D. Babcock