Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
However, I have prayed the same prayer, perhaps with different motives, many times. Especially the "keep me from harm and free of pain" part. Call me wimp, but I really don't like harm and pain.
I have also found myself this past winter praying the "enlarge my territory" part. Specifically the size of my house. For general day-to-day living Albert and I can survive quite well living the "tiny home" experience - as proved by our love of spending time in our one room cabin at the lake.
Our real house is just over 1000 square feet. Not a tiny home, but by no means a mansion. Especially when you factor in that we have never had full use of the basement, which went from being unfinished to being 50% a suite which has been occupied for the majority of the time since being finished in 2008.
And in the times the suite was empty, I felt like a stranger in someone else's home when I went down there, and we really never made use of the space. Mostly because I didn't want to expand into the space and then have to somehow find a new home for my crap if someone else moved in.
I realized the time had come to expand my territory and reclaim my space this past winter when, with the suite occupied, my pregnant daughter, her over 6-foot husband, and their not-very-petite 2-year-old were crammed in a double bed in the second bedroom of our home, which also doubles as a playroom for the grandkidlets. I knew the next time they would visit they would be a family of four and cramming wouldn't even be an option.
The basement occupant gave notice in March, and within a week of him leaving I had someone practically beg me to let her daughter live here while she attended her final year of university this fall. There were also a couple of other inquiries from prospective tenants as well.
As difficult as it was to kiss 750 dollars a month goodbye, I declined their requests saying I was moving in myself. And I have. Well, we have. And for the first time in twelve years of being in this house, my downstairs feels like home. Which is a good thing because the main living area upstairs is completely gutted in the midst of an extreme makeover.
So I find myself living half upstairs and half downstairs with no actual increase in my territory. And come to think of it, neither am I free from pain, as I find myself doing about 30 flights of stairs each day. Growing pains I suppose, as God and Albert grant my requests once again. This too shall pass.
No comments:
Post a Comment