Before and After: Main Bathroom

I'm a little late in posting pictures of our bathroom, but here it is, nearly a year after we started the project! We went from July to February without a working sink. Never again will I take washing my hands in a bathroom for granted! The bathroom was the biggest project of the whole house to date, and I love the outcome.

I didn't get great shots of the bathroom when we moved in, but I think you can at least tell it was in disrepair. I think I probably was afraid to step in far enough to get pictures, haha. The walls were weird blue and as you can see, they were filled with holes and general yuckiness.

I had been pinning away on Pinterest while we were thinking of how to remodel the house, and I really loved the scheme of black/grey/white with happy yellow accents. We settled on grey walls and then found tile at the ReStore for the floors. We installed a new white toilet and all new plumbing, as well. I took the picture of the flowers at a park near our house.

 

 

 

The tub was absolutely the most disgusting part of the bathroom. I adore a nice bubble bath, and I wasn't about to put the kids in this one either, so keeping the tub was just not an option. It was beyond clean-able!! It was a good thing we made the decision we did, because not surprisingly, David ran into lots of mold issues lurking behind the old tub, and he was able to get rid of it before installing the new one.

 

 

 

I had never bought a bathtub before, but I realized that they have all different depths. We found one that is 18" from the bottom to the top drain. We all really love the new, deep tub!

 



 

The vanity (you can kind of see it in one of the top before photos) was actually quite nice, but it was just too big for our small bathroom, and the top didn't go with my black and white scheme. David found both the top and bottom of our new one at the ReStore. Unfortunately, they did not fit together as well as we had hoped, so part of the delay in having a working sink was that it took him a long time to figure out how to get them to mesh without breaking the top. Those things are not cheap! He finally got it all working together, though, and I think it was worth the time we spent brushing our teeth in the kitchen for this.

We also added a ceiling vent fan and light, and painted the trim around the door white and the trim along the floor black. I looked and looked, but never did find a window covering I liked, so last weekend, we bought some custom frost and applied that to the bottom half of the window, as well.

I am so happy with this bathroom ... it's just what I pictured back in June 2013 when we first looked at our fixer-upper!

Because of Christ

I had the weekend of March 14-16 planned for months.  My family was going to leave Thursday night and drive over to Illinois to visit the Robbins family, as we try to do at least once a year.  We would relax and visit, and attend their church's missions conference each evening. Everything was going to be perfect.

But then, plans changed, and the trip was going to be cut a day short.  Then plans changed again ... and again, and again.  What was going to be my idea of a perfect weekend just kept falling through.  I was hoping that by now I would understand that God's plans are better than mine, but I have to admit, I was sulking by the time Thursday rolled around.  My family was going to stay home, and I was to drive to Illinois by myself.  I was more than a little nervous.

The weekend was crazy-busy, a total whirlwind, and yet, one of the best few days I have had in my life.  God used so many people and circumstances to show me His power, I am just awed.  I don't think that I can accurately describe in a blog post what I experienced, but I just wanted to try and share briefly what God has done in my heart. I believe He revealed a small taste of what heaven will be like, and I am certainly ready for Him to come back for us anytime!

The weekend was filled with friends - no, family. And it didn't matter how long I knew them, or if I knew them at all.  They are family because of Christ. 

There was Jay and Hannah, whom I had never met before, but who left as my friends.  There was Heidi, my close friend and former roommate, a confidante and a support who I've known for years.  Her parents, who think of and treat me as their own.  Willi and Heidi, who were friends of mine in college, but have moved to Germany and I've not seen for five years. Kelly, who I've known a long time and who ended up marrying a childhood friend of mine. There was Terry, a distant relative with whom I've recently reconnected, and her family.  I even went to her father-in-law's funeral - a man that I did not know - and I left thinking, "I can't wait to meet him in heaven!" And there was the church congregation, who has made it their goal to get to know me and my family, and to pray for us and to welcome us with open arms every time we visit.

There were two very distinct moments this weekend that moved me to tears, and I can't get them out of my mind.  The first was when I was sitting at the funeral of Norm, a man that I did not know but who was dear to my friend. For that reason, he was dear to me, in a way. While waiting for the service to begin, I had a brief thought of, "Why am I here?" But then, God answered.  The piano began to play, and I knew.

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!

It doesn't matter that I never personally knew Norm.  He's a child of God, and he is in heaven right now, looking into Jesus' face. And because of Christ, I will be there too. And I'm sure we'll be friends then. 

The second came in the morning service yesterday, during another song.

Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning, new mercies I see
All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

It was a special music, and I saw my college friends Willi and Heidi, with their three-year-old daughter Sophia, singing with pure hearts to their Savior.  Sophia knew every single word, because her parents have taught her the mercies of God.  I reflected on my life - the formative years and those I remember much better, the years from college on. I thought about when I first met Heidi S. ten years ago, when I was in college and she was in high school.  Willi, I met in Germany the summer after, and Heidi and I met that fall.

What fun we all had in college, and yet, how different we all are now. Through it all - good, bad, easy, hard - God has been faithful.  He has been our Father.  He has provided all that we've needed, every day. It's okay that we hadn't all been together in five years, because God has knitted our hearts in Him. Though time passes, we are still following Him, and that makes us family. It allows us to pick up where we left off, or to meet people we've never seen before, and to bond instantly.  

I am so thankful for each twist and turn of my life, and I'm thankful for the faithful friends who have been there all the way.  I am thankful that this weekend was not my plan, but was so much better because it was God's plan.  I pray that I am able to recall the lessons I have learned in the past few days and to love others more, knowing that everything that happens, every relationship that is made, is only because of Christ.

Knowledge, Wisdom, and the Heart

We were invited to a party.  I was so excited to go! I thought about it, planned my food, and played how it would go in my mind for weeks. 

Then I found out who else had been invited. What originally was going to be a fun evening with friends turned into a dreaded event, simply because of one person who was going to attend. It was a man who takes every opportunity to share with others just how smart he really is, to the point that I don't like being around him because, well, I just get tired of hearing it!

I went, and I really tried to enjoy myself, because it was a great party, but the guy was relentless.  Every time we played a game, he interjected with facts and quotes. Every time one person talked, he had to rebut.

In all honesty, after only an hour I was seething with anger and was ready to leave.  I was also ready to jump in this guy's face and give him a piece of my mind, telling him just how much I don't care about what he read, or heard, or surmised based on who-knows-what.

But then it hit me.  I do that.  Oh, I may not do it on such a large scale. I may not interrupt conversations with my "knowledge". But I definitely like to get a word in more often than not.

How many times do I give unsolicited advice about parenting? Or share with other ladies the "correct" way to make cookies? How many people do I tell for no particular reason all the places I've visited and all the people I've met? 

This has me thinking, and has been a huge area of concern and study since that party.  I do believe God created us (some, more than others, maybe) to desire to learn, study, travel, etc.  So, if knowledge itself isn't wrong, then what is?  What about it is making me cringe?

It is the attitude behind it.  It's the heart, the motivation. 

Why do I seek knowledge?  Is it so I can show off when a subject comes up?  So I can move up the ladder in a social circle or at work?  Or is it because God has created me to love learning, and because I desire to seek truth?

We've been studying from 1 Corinthians in Sunday School, and I am struck by how relevant so much of what Paul says in this letter is to my conviction on this subject.

1 Corinthians 1:20b says, "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" and verse 25 says, "...the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." I know he's not necessarily referring to knowledge, and the sharing of knowledge.  But can't anything that is gained out of a wrong motive be foolishness? 

1 Corinthians 1:27 goes on to say, "but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong ..." meaning that to those of us who think we are wise (i.e. sharing knowledge to make myself look good, or to appear strong) are put to shame by the ones we think look foolish.  (A good example is my very humble husband, who knows a whole lot more than he lets on but is so moldable and usable by God because of it).

And Proverbs 18:2 says, "A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind." How very convicting!

When is it okay to share knowledge?  There are plenty of times - if my heart is right.
1 Corinthians 1:31 "... just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"

It is my prayer that everything that I say and do would be pleasing to God, to edify others, and to bring others to a saving (HEART!) knowledge of Christ. 

If it's to make me look good, I pray that I think twice before it's said ... and may I treat others with grace who have not yet understood the importance of humility in this circumstance, praying that they learn to boast only in God!

Before and After: Bedrooms

I know, I know.  I've taken my sweet time posting any before-and-afters of our new house.  I finally decided to take some pictures today so I can share the blessing we have in our home!  When we first got into it, it had been foreclosed upon and some friends of ours had taken out all the "garbage."  It was quite the job for them, I'm sure!  And once we got it, it was basically a blank slate, minus the bathroom, which we (and by "we" I refer to my husband and father-in-law!) gutted.  Pictures of that to come soon.

Samuel's Room

Here is Samuel's room now.  I got a lighter blue for the walls, and the ceiling was cleaned and painted.  David and his dad also re-textured the whole upstairs (which contains the hallway, bathroom, and the three bedrooms), which fixed a ton of holes and other imperfections!  We carpeted both of the kids' rooms.  I still have work do to finish the windows - they all need paint on the trim, and I'm still looking for the perfect curtains for this room.

Both of the kids' room floors looked like this.  It's a wonder what carpet will do!

 

Our Room

 

 

So actually, our room wasn't too bad.  And I know this is a different angle, but you'd probably rather see this than a shot of our messy dresser!  I got a medium tan for this color, which I just love!  We also installed a ceiling fan and light.  I'm still looking for curtains for this room, too.

 

Girls Room

 

 

 

I think the girls room has the most noticeable difference.  The wall color was my choice, and it came out a little more bold than I thought.  But the more decorated the room gets, the more toned-down the paint seems.  I think it's going to be just fine when all is said and done.

 

We figured out pretty quickly that someone "closet smoked" in there ... the walls in the closet were yellow and stinky!  We did the same in the girls' room as in Samuel's room - new paint on the walls and ceiling and new carpet.  I'll get another set of curtains eventually, and we have some cute decorations for the walls in both kids' rooms.  Hey, I'm not doing so bad! We lived in our North English house for five years and I didn't even buy any decorations for their room in that time!  I have to feel inspired before I know for sure where I want to hang things.  We're getting there.