Don't Give Up.

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During a typical day, I slowly run 4 miles, make four paintings, remodel, homeschool, make meals, and play outside. I never stop moving and I never get it all done. I'm thankful for my morning walk/runs. I get to hash out a lot of things with Jesus. If I had not had those brief moments to begin my day, I think I would have given up on this project and many other things by now. One of the main things I hear whispered in my ear every morning is, "Don't give up." So, I keep moving forward. I keep pressing in to Jesus. I know firsthand that this life doesn't guarantee ease to us, but I can't imagine attempting it without Christ. Most of the time, I honor commitments and press forward simply because I promised him. 

This has been a hard road. There is no part of me in control of any of this house (or any thing else for that matter). I have been hurt, frustrated, and embarrassed. I just want a place to put things away. I want things to be normal. I want to be able to set my baby on the floor downstairs. I can't. I have to be strategic about every single thing I get done here. It's work. This week, I have been stripping some dental moulding in the foyer, finished sanding the dining room floor, and rehung a swing. 

I spent a hundred hours scraping the cracks of a set of hundred year old windows. If you want to know about the lengths that God goes to in his restorative efforts, come sit by me. Grab a tiny metal toothbrush and scrub. Repeat every day for over a month. Clean up the mess you made cleaning the window. Repeat. Jesus doesn't leave anything unturned. He does not leave us or those we love with old paint in the cracks. He does the full work. He doesn't waste the moments we sat around covered in dingy toxic paint. He uses that to display his beauty in the finished product of you. When people saw the strip of old floor next to the area of new floor in the dining room, they were astonished. That would have never happened if the old floor hadn't been the old floor. It's not an old floor anymore. Press on. Don't give up. Keep moving forward. When I was about three quarters of the way through, I wanted to break up with those windows. The hurt and pain that we walk through here that makes us feel so lonely is a catalyst. 
My soul is satisfied in Christ.





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