since i’ve begun world race, i’ve spent time in places that were in process. every month. unfinished, incomplete, works in progress.
month one was ecuador. we spent time in the jungle, both beautiful and terrifying, working on building dorms for a mission school. no students live there yet. it is not yet full of the life and busyness that it is purposed for. in peru we lived at an orphanage with no children. just 60 of us, full grown adults, living in a space meant for abandoned children. because first, before there is life done in these places, there must be a foundation and a structure. classrooms for learning. rooms with windows and beds and dressers to store clothes. space to be and do.
in bolivia we lived in a giant house, on it’s way to mansion proportions. they’re expanding and growing to make room for more missionaries, more staff members, more guests. it was already beautiful and pleasant and accommodating as it was. but now it’s time for growth. it has outgrown the dimensions of it’s foundation, and now they’re building up. adding more floors, more rooms, more space to do life.
in romania we lived in a mission house that has already been remodeled to accommodate a large group of people. the kitchen has been expanded and the bathrooms modified. to me, it seemed it was already good enough. but there are plans to improve and adapt and repurpose. leaky faucets, cracked paint, uneven flooring. an endless list of to do’s.
in ukraine we’ve just spent a week in the most beautiful home of the most beautiful people. the Blessing family (yes, that is their real last name) have added an enormous home onto their tiny home to lodge missionaries. it’s still in progress but they estimate when it’s finished that 35+ people will be able to stay there. this home that will house so many is quite literally a mansion, but still has that homey and cozy feel. a place of peace and love and family.
and i guess all of this house building and remodeling has got me thinking about my life as a house. about the foundation i’m established on and the rooms of my heart and soul. in my last blog i talked about “cleaning out my basement” as the prerequisite to remodeling my house. because really, you can’t get much actual work done until you clean up all the “stuff” first. you can’t paint the walls a new color or add on a new room or change the electrical outlets if you have a big mess everywhere.
but then what happens after you do the remodel or the addition? when you paint the room that beautiful new color or fix that leaky pipe. when you add on the new room to accommodate more people and more love.
when you add a new room you suddenly have space for things you didn’t before. say you add an art room and you begin making really, really great works of art. it wasn’t that you weren’t an artist before the room was created. the room didn’t make you an artist. it just gave you the space to be what you really are.
or if you turn your storage room into a child’s room so you can adopt. the room didn’t make you a bigger family. it just gave you the space to be what you’re becoming.
this year i’ve begun opening up some new rooms in my heart. to make space in my life for who i really am. giving myself the freedom and permission to try new things and make mistakes.
i think so far, my favorite new room is the one marked Provision. i’m making space in my life for God to be my provider. He already was before i made the space, but i didn’t necessarily acknowledge that or live my life as if i believed it. as i spend more time within this room, i find that my faith is growing and my desire for control is shrinking. i’m finding that God is who He says He is. i’m finding that i can be more at rest, knowing He’ll come through.
sometimes the remodel can seem daunting. there’s just so much work to be done. it feels like my house is going to be in process for-ev-errrr. because it will be. but i think i’m ok with it. i'll just take it one room at a time.
