God's Protection

Power working-that is what we are up to these days! Our weeks are so full that we have to make up the time on the weekends. The past two weekends, we have gotten so much done on the house....there really may be light at the end of this tunnel!

Steve has been busy putting up trim around windows and doors, adding baseboards, installing doors, and then there is still demo to be done. He decided this weekend he was going to take out this door opening between the kitchen and dining room. He had to move the opening over about 6 inches which required bracing studs and rebuilding a header. All of which he and my brother accomplished with relative ease. It is dramatic what a difference that six inches makes in the space. Everything looks bigger!

Well, why he was in "demo" mode and had assistance....Todd was also here-I had a thought...can we go ahead and take down the Sheetrock between the two rooms? That wall which separates the living room, kitchen, and laundry room had two layers of Sheetrock between a set of fir strips. That really bugged me, because I knew the bottom part had gotten wet, and there was no way to get to the Sheetrock without removing the fir strips. The guys were game, and we got to it....which is where the story gets interesting.

When they got the layer of Sheetrock and fir strips down, they discovered a large molded area in the corner. We would have never known that was there. Bad news, a section of the ceiling has to come out, and we have to clean out some insulation in the attic to do that, but now we know and can fix it. Also behind that wall was some electrical wiring that was taped up. My brother tested it and discovered it was hot. So...floating around inside the wall, unbeknownst to us, was a dangling hot electrical wire! (It went no where, no electrical box, nothing)

Steve and I were discussing all our adventures on this project last night as we were putting up trim around a window....I was observing how much he has learned to do, and how much more I have been able to do than I could have ever imagined I could. As we chatted, we rehearsed all the stuff we have found behind walls...fire hazards...safety hazards...We were in danger every moment of the day and did not even know it. At any moment something in the wiring could have sparked and caught a stud on fire....and....imagination running wild.

Wow...how God has protected us even when we didn't know we needed to be protected. We know God by lots of names, my favorite has always been Jehovah-Jireh. God's provision and faithfulness has carried us through some of our hardest days. Through this experience, we are coming to know Him as our Protector. It really makes me wonder how many times in our lives did God intervene in ways beyond our comprehension to protect us? How many of those inconveniences, how many of those crisis'-car problems, plumbing problems, etc...hold ups in our schedule...were just God?

Hmmm...Praise God!

Coming soon....a finished room. All that is left in our office is the crown molding, painting of trim, and sealing floors. Pictures on their way.