GUT IT OUT

With two 30 foot dumpsters just outside, a team of dedicated people officially kicked off the work at the house today. Although we will not have a mortgage on the house until we move in, it will be ours when it is finished. We signed and mailed the paperwork accepting this home, and that makes it official. So, when we went by OUR HOUSE today we saw all kinds of junk being dumped out of it from the 2nd floor window!

Sometimes in life we have to "gut it out" when going through a difficult season or trial. A dry time in our marriage, with a child in a challenging stage of development, or even through a work-out we know our out-of-shape body desperately needs. God uses these things to make us into the people he desires us to be, and "gutting it out" is often the best thing to do. So, today our house is getting gutted out so that it can be the best house for us in the future. It looks painful, as walls and all the rest get taken out but it is necessary.

It is exciting to think of all the possibilities once the space is opened up. Now that we have accepted the property, we will have a pre-construction meeting with the project manager. This will be our opportunity to discuss the possible layout of the house, including the number of rooms and their dimensions. This vision, as well as the removal of the ugly vinyl siding should really give us a taste of the potential that is in what is now our future home.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

- Hebrews 12:11

The Foundation

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."

Matthew 7:24-25

A Diamond in the Rough

When I say, "diamond" I think there truly is one buried under all that ugly in the picture you see below. It is covered up by all that "rough" covering! This house is in a historical district on the east side of Elgin. If we sign the paper work with Habitat this week, it will be our future home. We are family partners with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and this is the house they plan to rehab.

What will change? Everything! This 1890's house has lost most of its once great character, and will be completely gutted and redone in every way possible. Even the ugly bushes are doomed! The outside structure will be changed back to the original "footprint," a side porch added, a new roof put on, and so on. The inside will be totally gutted, and new everything will go in. Electrical, plumbing, walls, you name it.

The process will take 10-12 months, hours and hours of work, and our own sweat equity. Work days will be Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will be alerting all our friends and family as soon as we know more about the volunteer opportunities. Of the 500 hours Chris and I are required to contribute on site, 250 of these can be done by our friends and family. That's where you come in!