The children and I arrived about 7 in the evening (with Hurley and Marcie in tow) and upon opening the door to the house I knew something was definitely wrong. Thus far in my life I’ve visited 20 different countries across four of our seven continents providing ample opportunity to experience all sorts of uniqueness’s. Smells are certainly a significant aspect of each culture. Some were sweet and some, shockingly not sweet. The smell we encountered coming from somewhere in our home was like nothing I’ve ever smelled before and it was one of the ‘not sweet’ smells and this… cannot be good.
Honestly ‘good’ is always relative, I know. I’m still working this one out with Jesus. Any guesses what the horrible smell was from?
Thanks to tropical storm Isaias our, new to us, home welcomed significant water into the lower level. Noooooo! (The layout of the lake house is unique, it’s a split level of sorts, technically there are 4 levels and a crawlspace.) The water came in, still unknown to us how, saturating and and sitting stagnant in the lower level, which is the boys bedroom, for days!
Really?
Yes.
Good?
Regarding this change and goodness, I have said if my two boys, who are loved so so much and are beyond able, were to step into the wonderful and gifted role of being the man/men of the house this would be some of the “jaw dropping goodness” Jesus has asked us to be ready for. Ryan was not with us yet for this quick trip and because of my back and history with surgery, I am very aware of what is wise (or not) with regards to heavy lifting and yet we HAD to get the carpet which was soaked with water OUT! I needed to rely on Audrey, Spencer and Caleb for much help in getting the lower level clear of the heavy and awkward furniture (queen/full bunk bed, couch, chair, and dresser). And… don’t forget we had our Hurley and Marcie Lu to manage too!
Hallelujah! We were able to safely get the furniture into the garage that evening. I was shocked by how strong Spencer is as a new 14-year-old. What a gift he will be when he delights in being the man of the house! Until then, I get it, it’s not fun to just work at such an annoying mess of a problem. We were then able to lift the carpet enough to start it drying with the fans we put downstairs after we realized we didn’t have Ryan’s toolbox which had the straight blade in it. Thankfully Ryan was already planning to come up late the following evening but let me tell you, his arrival couldn’t come quick enough as we all had headaches and sore throats from the … smell?!?
Overall, I was saddened, overwhelmed and definetly not feeling the good. The other component was not only did we need to move out the furniture and rip up carpet but leaving an unfinished floor to then move into but we also had hired painters to come and start the day after next and the smell… it was truly so bad, I couldn’t image the house being free from it in time to expect anyone to work in it.
This was not the start I had planned for, this wasn’t on my list.
Oh right, that list, I’m remembering again Jesus offers us abundant life as we live off the list...!
Stay tuned for more goodness…