January 21 – “Mode to Be Mended”

I woke up today determined to do something at the house.  My plan was to make a path to the back door so the workers could get to it to change it out when the time came.  When we got there, though, the framers were already hard at work.  At least it sounded like they were.  Lots of hammering and sawing and loud music.  As it turned out, they have pretty much framed out the changes in the kitchen walls, except for the steel pole that will be the main support point.  They did a lot of extra stuff around all the door frames.  I guess to get them ready to hold on to some doors.  They also did the expansion of the shower and closing in one of the old doors to the master bathroom.  There are anchor bolts everywhere around the outside of the house.  I don't think it's going anywhere for a long time.  They even got the frame ready for the attic stairs and the crawl hole into the attic in the garage.  I know we have coming up electric, AC and heating, plumbing, and windows and doors.  I keep forgetting to ask if they can run cable and telephone wires at the same time as electric.  And we thought today about asking if we can put some plywood flooring in the attic to make it easier to store stuff.    There's always something in this rebuilding nightmare.   Instead of going right in, we decided to clean out the minivan, which is now parked across the street at Mom's.  We have decided to give the van to our friends Dennis and Anna, who pastor in Port Bolivar.  They need something they can carry teenagers around in over there, so it will be used well for what little time may be left in it.  And what better place for a 1997 Chevy Venture to spend one's last days than in the care of two mechanics?   When we finished emptying it out, Chris left for a WalMart run and I decided to get a little done in the back yard.  As it turned out, I got very little done.  I didn't even empty off the one card table right in front of the door.  I did move the rocking horse out of the way, though.  WooHoo.  The problem was that I started out trying to brush clean some of the old Bibles and scrapbooks we set out on the spa to dry.  None of them are in very good shape, but they are somewhat drier than when they first got there. And they smell a lot better.  But they are never going to reach their full potential unless we can get them inside – into the right environment.  Otherwise they will stay constantly damp – never in the right mode to be mended.  Kind of like us when we get into some bad habit or stupid situation.  Unless we stay away from that stuff, or get out of it as soon as we realize where we are, we'll just get further and further into it until it's no longer an easy matter to get out.   1 John 1:6-7 says, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."   Father, keep me in your light.  It's so much more refreshing to be clean.  Amen.