which is the title of an AWESOME book that i am rereading. i could read it once a month and it would always remind me of things i need to remember about this fallen world that we live in with our fallen selves...
Well, sin has ravaged the beautiful house that God created. This world bears only the faintest resemblance to what it was built to be. It sits in slumped and disheveled pain, groaning for the restoration that can only be accomplished by the hands of him who built it in the first place. The Bible clearly tells us that the divine Builder cannot and will not leave his house in its present pitiful condition. He has instituted a plan of restoration, and he will not relent until everything about His house is made totally new again. That is the good news.
The bad news is that you and I are a living right in the middle of the restoration. We live each day in a house that is terribly broken, where nothing works exactly as intended. But we do not live in the house by ourselves. Emmanuel lives here as well, and he is at work returning his house to its former beauty. Often it doesn’t look like any real restoration is going on at all. Things seem to get messier, uglier, and less functional all the time. But that’s the way it is with restoration; things generally get worse before they get better.
from broken down house by paul david tripp
and God likes to let me live out this in very real ways sometimes...
like with my own actual broken down house. we live in a 1960 mostly un-renovated 2000-ish square foot ranch house. we have done some new appliances and paint. but nothing really reconstructive. God has made me (through a lot of time. and circumstances.) very grateful and in love with its quirky retro-ness. funky laminate counters and all.
a few years ago we repainted the bathroom a lovely grey/gray (what is up with the two spellings?) shade to go with the yellow tile. and i loved the color combo. i was even kind of ahead of the HUGE gray/yellow trend that is in full swing now. and i felt good about my trendiness...
we didn't realize until recently that we had a leak under that lovely yellow tile. the shower pan is leaking and the plumbing up higher in the shower wall may be leaking also. so now all that yellow tile has to go. floor, shower, and walls. we could try to take out the floor only but with the size of the bathroom being only 25 square feet it would be VERY hard to redo the floor and the shower without harming the wall tile. as in more time and $$$$. and did we mention we have a child going to college next year?
we have lived without using the bathroom for a few months now to save up some $$$. to explore our options. get bids. wait for $$$ to fall out of the sky (which didn't happen.) and to scour for the cheapest tile, countertops, cabinets, shower options, etc...
it also gave me time to create a lovely pinterest board of bathroom things that i think might work in our space and with the 1960's time period of the rest of our home. i tried not to pin bathrooms that were HUGE and $$$$$ because i wanted to have a realistic vision for what we needed to do (not wanted) to make it fit with the look of the house. our needs (again, not our wants), and something sellable for wayyyyyy down the road. the bathroom is tiny. it isn't going to get any larger with this remodel. but i would like to make it seem light and airy.
the worst part is that my husband (in a move of brilliance on his part) has scheduled this work to be done while i am out of town later this week. WHAT?!?!?!? because not all of the decisions about the bathroom have been made. we are waiting to see what the demo reveals. will it all has to go? or can the countertop and cabinets stay? do we have to take the entire shower wall out to get to the leak? so a lot of the design decisions will be made by my husband as we know what all stays and what has to go. which means that even though i am hoping to wind up with a bathroom that looks something like this (from my pinterest board "bathtastic")...
i would like the bathroom to retain a look of the 1960's with a little more space (if we can work the glass shower in on our budget IF we have to take the entire shower wall down.).
however i am thinking it might end up more like this with adam being in charge of all the choices (from googling "single guy bathroom)...
i was talking to someone about this whole bathroom remodel thing and how i really wanted certain things (like a glass shower. open shelving under the sink. white subway tile. etc....) but then i had to take a step back and say that my #1 goal at the end of any home project is to STILL BE MARRIED. whatever the bathroom looks like is much less important than my marriage reconstruction project that goes on daily here. the bathroom doesn't speak the gospel message to our children. but living in a marriage that reflects a covenantal relationship (as opposed to a convenience based relationship) speaks. louder than a glass shower. though i really want that glass shower...
so await the after photos next week. or whenever it is finished. it won't look pinterest worthy. but it will be set on a firm foundation. a lot like our marriage...