The Hoffman Family Adventures: One Step at a Time. DPP2020 Day 7

As we work our way through the last of our home improvement projects, we are almost giddy to be done with the upheaval that comes with having your house torn apart. We are sore tonight from moving everything in our house twice or more in the last week. Our house has reached an age that it was just time to do some updates. The deck was falling off the house, a new roof after a bad storm, painted ceilings, new garage doors, new garage door openers, the driveway had a crater in it, the walls were so dingy they were beyond washing, the wood floors dulls and scratched, and the carpets worn down to nearly flat. In the last week, we have been doing the floors. We saved the worst for last. The above picture is the stairs with all the carpet and pad removed. Nails sticking up standing ready to get your attention. Tomorrow should be the end of this upheaval. Step by step, we have gotten through this process. It has taken almost two years to get through all the different parts but we took it one step at a time, just like this photo.

These next two photos show a little of what the house has looked like. The first is our piano room. A dangerous loading zone because we have to take such care for that piano that my grandmother so sweetly gave to me. It holds such sentimental value in addition to the fact that playing it is one of my greatest therapies in life. But this room doesn't get much traffic, so it has been loaded full for this entire process since it doesn't require any replacement.

You might not be able to tell what kind of room this is - but it is our bathroom. Even the bathtub is full of bedding as we try to empty out the bedrooms so that they may have some carpet installed. Perhaps I am alone in this (though I know my hubby is with me on this) - this kind of chaos and disorder makes me instantly irritable. It makes me feel overwhelmed and chaotic. I can even reason in my own head that those emotions are irrational but it doesn't make them go away.

Walking through this current world of uncertainty with our future, like the home improvements, I think the disorder of it makes us overwhelmed and irritable. But we can learn from this home improvement process that with one step at a time, tackling one piece of the broken at a time, we can fix just about anything. (Though admittedly, we haven't fixed anything because we actually wanted it to be done right). Last night, as I submitted the post, I felt so vulnerable and I was met with such graciousness. I am truly grateful for all the people who provide support for my family now and always. I need to speak about one person in my life that makes taking that one step at a time so much easier through the hard stuff. My friend, Jessica, makes all of life's hard things easier. Today was a hard day because adding the physical exhaustion from moving all the furniture in 6 different rooms - some of them twice - to the emotional exhaustion just didn't leave us much in the tank. Jess is one of those friends that feels big and loves big. She is the one you want to call with good news because she will exclaim so loudly and genuinely on the phone that you will realize you should have been more excited. But when you call her with bad news, she is immediately in action with prayer and advocacy and standing ready to help in any way. She is one of those friends that you set as your standard of what you want to be to the people in your life. She was even willing to come move furniture - but I just couldn't ask her to do that. She reminded me that these times of hardship do have such blessings and she shared through the hardships she has endured. Reminding me - there are so many bigger and harder things than what we are going through right now and that perspective is much needed.

Our three littles worked their tails off tonight helping us move things for over 3 hours. As little ones will, the got hungry which prompted a trip to the pantry where we discovered this mess. When not much is left in the tank, this brokenness felt so much bigger than it actually was. It felt defeating and unfair. But at the end of the day, this likely happened due to the normal pounding that comes with replacing carpet. It felt big - but it will only take a few minutes to clean up and a light fixture and crock pot are replaceable. I think that is where I have been in my mind. A problem, that while real, is not as big as I have made it in my head. Much like walking through the steps of cleaning up and restoring, we will walk through the steps of replacing our normal. That is the perspective that Jess provided for me. It feels big right now but it will get better and the steps needed are likely not as many as they currently seem. While walking through those steps, if I do it right, I will likely find a strengthened relationship with those closest to me, definitely with Rich as we note that these times remind us how we complement each other so well, and most importantly, with God as I learn to lean on Him through this walk. One step at a time.