“The old fade away, and all things become new.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 says it perfectly… “The old shall fade away and all things become new.” This year is a new chapter of my life, one in which God has written so clearly as a chance for me to  be “made new.” I am now working part-time (weekend nights only) so I can be home with my soon-to-be two year old. And I have a chance to pursue some passions and be more of the mom I dreamed of being for the last 20 months. Constantly tired and grasping for air, worn edges, chipped away from not having a set schedule from my long term hours as a full-time night shift nurse. That was me in a nutshell. Being home part-time has given me a chance to discover a little more about myself and become this new person/parent/explorer/creative scientist that I didn’t expect. But isn’t that what God’s grace is about??? I didn’t think part-time would ever actually be attainable or get here fast enough. I was discouraged by my lack of fervor in my marriage, in my life, as a mother. I looked in the mirror and saw a beat down old bitty who was not nice, not fun, and not me. But I prayed fervently over the past year: “God, please forgive me when I haven’t been enough, I’ve been too much, I’m overbearing, and oversensitive. God forgive me of my short comings and failures. Please do something with the heap of mess that I see in the mirror everyday and make her new.” And He has… little by little and week after week. He gave me the chance to understand that marriage and parenting are an ever-educating thing. We have to learn to forgive and move forward, especially in regards to ourself.

One thing that has been especially therapeutic for me is re-doing a couple of furniture pieces and buying our home as a fixer-upper. I am a self-imposed diy-er and a lover of antiques. A fixer upper is a way to my heart. I swoon over paint and wood stain: how it can take something from broken and dingy to beautiful and new.I saw big potential for this house when we bough it. It’s a work in progress, and though we are not “there” yet, we have painted and redone a couple of rooms. It makes me filled with pride and joy over the finished result. I started out praying over what to do with paint or what furniture piece to put here or there. It seems “silly” to pray over a topic such as that, but I was taking verses from my quiet time with God literally (“Worry over nothing; Pray about everything.” -Philippians 4:6). And each time I painted a room, added a piece of furniture that I made, or made a soap dispenser out of a liquor bottle (NOT kidding… post for later), God restored my soul and showed me how much He loves me (AND YOU). He is slowly crafting us from what we were, our potential for better, the dings life hands us, and our faith in His guidance and restoration. He wants us to have new beauty, new purpose, and a closer relationship with Him. For example, the love I have for our pallet coffee table and guest bedroom furniture is greater BECAUSE we (Sam and I) got to make it beautiful from its former state. Its never a hassle to me, nor is it ever for God. Oh, how He loves us so.

So that’s what this blog is about: restoration, doing it myself (well-also with God), and taking the old and making it new… including me as a woman, a wife, and a parent.