Working at Rest

Lath and plaster gone, time to insulate!

Well! Within the last few months it feels as though a renovation bomb went off in our home. It also looks that way! We had the best part of a year to transition and settle down into our new home, but then something just happened and suddenly we have numerous renovation projects on the go. Thankfully, apart from the occasional melt down, I am coping well with living in a large scale construction site. Even though it is tiring, disgusting at times and stressful, I love all the learning and the new experiences. Over the last few months we tore out lath and plaster from our entire main floor, moved our kitchen temporarily into a tiny room at the front of the house and insulated the main floor. If that wasn't enough, just these past few weeks Nathan has been re-shingling our roof, and I have been operating the telehandler to get him up and around our crazy 12/12 pitch roof with a dormer on every side! Lets be honest, I didn't even know what a 'telehandler' was, or what '12/12 pitch' meant a year ago, so I'm on a steep (haha) learning curve. Now I have a slightly better chance of understanding what Nathan means when he talks to me in constructionese. I often need people to come and remind me of all the progress we have made; I am a little too 'all or nothing' to appreciate it on my own. But when they remind me, it is incredibly encouraging that by God's grace we are moving forward. Along with that, I finally got a work permit from Canada Immigration, and I got a job at a daycare that starts in a couple of weeks! Woohoo!

Preparing the roof for shingles

I am amazed at how much stress we can both feel during these projects. It is not uncommon for either of us to be awake for hours in the middle of the night with our minds whirring like coffee grinders, trying to figure out a solution or a plan. We both seem to have a hard time shutting off. The thing is, I still battle this deep seeded belief that once the house is fixed we won't carry such a heavy load. So I just need to buckle down and figure out everything with the house, then fix the house. Then I will feel rest. I know it's not true. But at 3am, when I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed, it never even crosses my mind that chewing over some issue for hours in my own strength is not to my benefit. Believe it or not, Nate and I have to really work at experiencing rest. It feels like it takes far more work to take my thoughts captive and hand over the unknowns (and even the knowns) to the Lord than it does to carry them on my own shoulders. Yet I know I am far more drained from wrestling with them on my own. So let me keep this short and sweet, seeing as I have to get back to destroying some stuff. Friends, rest is available to us. Today. During the journey. Not just at the destination. Actually, not guaranteed at the destination. Really, though. So I pray for us all that when we catch ourselves worrying about how or when or what if or what if not...that we would be able to take Jesus up on His offer:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

Matthew 11:28-30