This Old House

I love that we live in a house that is almost 100 years old...our Hamewith. I love looking through the windows and seeing the wavy glass, the imperfections of the hardwood floors. I love that there is history here that we have yet to discover...it adds a bit of drama!

We do know that the house used to have two fireplaces, both closed up before we moved in. When we replaced our roof, we removed the chimneys. Todd has been talking, for a while, about removing the fireplaces, from the attic down...brick by brick...to reclaim the space. He has had dreams of a second bathroom, maybe a closet. Recently, an "office space" has been mentioned. I have taken it all in stride.

Last week Todd was in the attic taking bricks out. "Well, if that is how he wants to spend his day"...was a thought of mine. He brought a few bricks down. I saw the action as him relieving a bit of stress. The next day, he yells out from our room, "Hey come and look at this!" I go into our room to see that he has taken off a whole section of sheetrock to expose some wall paper from way back when. He wanted me to see the cool wallpaper. My thought was, "Where is the wall? What are you doing?!!! He is really going to do this. Oh m' gosh!"

So for the last week, Todd has been using his "spare time" to reclaim this space, as well as the materials he has uncovered. Nothing is going to waste! He salvaged the beaded board, maybe to use on the ceiling or wall in this space. I grabbed some of the wallpaper, knowing that my artist friends could do something creative with it, and the brick...
This weekend the whole family got in on the "reclamation" process. We've been wanting a brick sidewalk along the front of the house. So, I got the honors of deciding on a pattern. Ashley got to clean the mortar off the brick, Jackson loaded, and hauled the sand and Todd laid the brick.

It is awesome to see what we did! The sidewalk looks really good. I just get so excited about it. It also gets me reflecting on it all...the life lessons that are being uncovered here.

Reclamation means "restoration, as to productivity, usefulness or morality."

There are so many areas, in my life, that the Lord has restored to usefulness. Those things that I thought should be discarded, the Lord has seen as beautiful, useful, with a purpose. I am so grateful for the Lord's faithfulness and commitment to me. He has skillfully remove the layers, revealing the beauty underneath.

Who knew?

God did.

I am very proud of Todd. This is just another example of his visionary gifting and tenacity.