Broken Everywhere

Don't you just love old houses and buildings? I sure do. I love the stories that I know they hold within them. They stand as silent witnesses to the lives that have come and gone, the heartache and the joy they must have been privy to. I always wonder what they would tell us about the people they have seen, the secrets that have been locked away within their now empty rooms. Who lived in them, what were they like? What did they love? Who was this home built for? I love the detail in their structures, the quirks in architecture and imperfections that are found when you begin to renovate them. Why in the world was this window covered up? Why did they move the stairs over there? What on earth were they thinking when they covered up these hardwoods?  I always find myself wondering about these and other similar things when we are doing a renovation. It is a privilege to restore something broken into something beautiful and useful again. It is part of our mission statement as a family, this redeeming of properties. It is a very small picture of the work that God has done in us. A visual representation of the redemptive work that Jesus does in the life of the believer. 

We redeem properties because we ourselves have been redeemed. We as believers were all once these old buildings and homes that have fallen into disrepair. We are rundown and hollow, until Jesus the carpenter gets his hands on us. I love that Jesus grew up a carpenter. It makes it even that more relatable for me. I picture the savior seeing me there, abandoned and in disrepair in need of a redeemer. He saw me, and he CHOSE me.

When my husband and I look for a project, we have to see what the property can become, not what it currently is. My husband has this gift. He can look at a rundown property and see that a porch can be added here, a window here turn that window into a door and so on. He can not only see where the structure itself needs to be supported and strengthened, but he also has the eye of an artist. Instead of just making the house strong again, he can also make it more beautiful than it once was. I like to think about God seeing us like we see these abandoned properties. He doesn't see all of our imperfections and flaws, how gross we look and sometimes even smell, he sees what we can become, something so very beautiful. I envision him rolling up his sleeves and beginning the work of redemption and sanctification in our lives. Often times we have had to completely "gut" these properties, leaving only the "bones" of the building and sometimes we have even had to tear out some of the studs, and subfloors and roof decking and replace rotting pieces with brand new ones. And God does the same thing with us, replacing the broken pieces , strengthening our weakened parts and shoring up our foundation with faith and His love. 

I love the smell of fresh cut lumber, I love that I picture renovation and redemption when I smell it. I breathe in warmth and earth.  It reminds me of the hard work it takes to build and to rebuild a house. The toil, the labor, the sweat all comes to mind when I breathe it in. Even the foundation starts with lumber. Before the concrete footings can be poured, lumber is cut and the forms that will hold the foundations are built. Wood, the carpenter's medium is used before the foundation can be put into place.

(This is the "before" picture of our last home. It was by FAR the worst house in the neighborhood.)

(This is the "after" picture. It was such a wonderful home.)

Y'all, it is such a beautiful picture of what God has done for me, and you if you are a believer.  God will sometimes have to strip us down to our spiritual shell so that nothing of our old selves is visible. It can be a long slow process. There is a lot of blood sweat and tears that goes into our remodels because my husband does nearly all the work himself. I always joke that I just pick out the paint colors. But in all seriousness it takes the both of us. I usually play the single parent at home while he puts in long hours. He picks the outside finishes and I pick the inside finishes. We make an amazing team if I do say so myself. So the next time you watch an episode of your favorite home renovation show (Hi @Joanna Gaines! We should totally hang out!), why not see the spiritual truths hidden in between the lines. Something that was broken and ugly transformed into something beautiful and valuable that has been given a new life. May we all be so fortunate!