you think you know, but you have no idea...
It's like having a newborn and being a first time parent. That's how I would describe what it's like to live in your home while renovating it. You think you know, but you have no idea.
I figured I could handle motherhood when I realized that women a whole decade younger than me were having children and raising them just fine. Plus, I had been around babies and held a few here and there. I am a reasonable and educated individual so surely I could figure out motherhood like the every other mother since the beginning of time. But then Annabeth was born and I quickly knew I had no clue what I was doing. I was just figuring it out as I went and sometimes it wasn't very pretty. I did a lot of things the hard way due to ignorance. Things I will definitely do differently the next time around. And to be honest, about a month in I found myself thinking, "What did I get myself into? Why did I think I could do this?" But each month got a little easier as my confidence and knowledge grew. And now, although I'm still learning a great deal on a daily basis, I don't feel near as overwhelmed. I see the progress that has been made, and the more time I have as a mother, the more I love it!
We felt the same way about renovating our house. I've watched countless hours of HGTV and done a few little projects here and there, mostly painting, so I felt capable of taking on a house. YouTube made it look super easy, too. And so we moved into our home eager to get going and a month later I found myself thinking, "What did we do? Why did we think this was a good idea?" It was overwhelming. Nothing was going as planned. It was much harder than I anticipated, and the house was a huge, giant, messy disaster. Of course, two first-timers who can only dedicate their evenings and limited time on weekends to renovation projects aren't going to get anywhere fast, but we didn't think about that when we signed the dotted line. We just thought about what could be. But each month has improved as we've gained knowledge and experience. We have learned little tricks along the way to speed things up and our skills have sharpened with each room we've completed. And the more we do, and the longer we're here, we look back at our progress and we love our home because it's not only full of our memories, but it's also full of our blood, sweat, and tears.
"I don't know how you do it." I've heard that phrase a hundred times since we've moved into our home. How do you live in a home and renovate it at the same time? Well, just like motherhood, you do what you've gotta do. This has been such a growth opportunity for me as God has used this process to teach and refine me. The truth is, life is messy. That's just the reality of living on this side of Heaven. Things get out of sorts. It can get ugly real fast. There's no way to manage it perfectly and the harder you try, the more frustrated you'll be. And so you have to learn to roll with the punches. To let go of your expectations and change your perspective. If we focus on the hardship, that's all we'll see. But if we see beyond that and work towards the bigger picture, it makes for a much more enjoyable ride. And we have to keep chipping away. Keep moving forward and making progress because going back isn't an option. We must learn to embrace our current position and find something good about it because God uses these challenging, difficult, messy processes in life changing ways.
My family often tells me how surprised they are that I've been able to endure this process. I think they might have low expectations for me, but then again, I'm sure I've done things in the past to set those very expectations. However, when I look at this process, I see God's grace because it hasn't been easy. It hasn't been entirely fun. We've still got a long way until we reach the finish line, and even then, there will always be something that needs to be done. Yet I think that's the mark of a believer, right? That we can walk through overwhelming seasons, which for me has been motherhood and home renos, and still have joy. We can still find good in the middle of great messes and challenges. And we come out better, not bitter, for it. We are changed. We are refined. And people are surprised because it's not "like us." Well, the good thing is that it's not us doing it. It's the power of God working through our lives, answering our prayers, and using these things to mold us more into the likeness of Christ.
And so for you, whatever it is, know that this process is not a waste. It might be hard, it might take longer than you are anticipating, and it might not go as smoothly as you had hoped. But God will help you every step of the way. You may not know what you're doing, but He does. And if you'll seek him each step of the way, He'll be faithful to provide exactly what you need to keep you moving forward.
I figured I could handle motherhood when I realized that women a whole decade younger than me were having children and raising them just fine. Plus, I had been around babies and held a few here and there. I am a reasonable and educated individual so surely I could figure out motherhood like the every other mother since the beginning of time. But then Annabeth was born and I quickly knew I had no clue what I was doing. I was just figuring it out as I went and sometimes it wasn't very pretty. I did a lot of things the hard way due to ignorance. Things I will definitely do differently the next time around. And to be honest, about a month in I found myself thinking, "What did I get myself into? Why did I think I could do this?" But each month got a little easier as my confidence and knowledge grew. And now, although I'm still learning a great deal on a daily basis, I don't feel near as overwhelmed. I see the progress that has been made, and the more time I have as a mother, the more I love it!
We felt the same way about renovating our house. I've watched countless hours of HGTV and done a few little projects here and there, mostly painting, so I felt capable of taking on a house. YouTube made it look super easy, too. And so we moved into our home eager to get going and a month later I found myself thinking, "What did we do? Why did we think this was a good idea?" It was overwhelming. Nothing was going as planned. It was much harder than I anticipated, and the house was a huge, giant, messy disaster. Of course, two first-timers who can only dedicate their evenings and limited time on weekends to renovation projects aren't going to get anywhere fast, but we didn't think about that when we signed the dotted line. We just thought about what could be. But each month has improved as we've gained knowledge and experience. We have learned little tricks along the way to speed things up and our skills have sharpened with each room we've completed. And the more we do, and the longer we're here, we look back at our progress and we love our home because it's not only full of our memories, but it's also full of our blood, sweat, and tears.
"I don't know how you do it." I've heard that phrase a hundred times since we've moved into our home. How do you live in a home and renovate it at the same time? Well, just like motherhood, you do what you've gotta do. This has been such a growth opportunity for me as God has used this process to teach and refine me. The truth is, life is messy. That's just the reality of living on this side of Heaven. Things get out of sorts. It can get ugly real fast. There's no way to manage it perfectly and the harder you try, the more frustrated you'll be. And so you have to learn to roll with the punches. To let go of your expectations and change your perspective. If we focus on the hardship, that's all we'll see. But if we see beyond that and work towards the bigger picture, it makes for a much more enjoyable ride. And we have to keep chipping away. Keep moving forward and making progress because going back isn't an option. We must learn to embrace our current position and find something good about it because God uses these challenging, difficult, messy processes in life changing ways.
My family often tells me how surprised they are that I've been able to endure this process. I think they might have low expectations for me, but then again, I'm sure I've done things in the past to set those very expectations. However, when I look at this process, I see God's grace because it hasn't been easy. It hasn't been entirely fun. We've still got a long way until we reach the finish line, and even then, there will always be something that needs to be done. Yet I think that's the mark of a believer, right? That we can walk through overwhelming seasons, which for me has been motherhood and home renos, and still have joy. We can still find good in the middle of great messes and challenges. And we come out better, not bitter, for it. We are changed. We are refined. And people are surprised because it's not "like us." Well, the good thing is that it's not us doing it. It's the power of God working through our lives, answering our prayers, and using these things to mold us more into the likeness of Christ.
And so for you, whatever it is, know that this process is not a waste. It might be hard, it might take longer than you are anticipating, and it might not go as smoothly as you had hoped. But God will help you every step of the way. You may not know what you're doing, but He does. And if you'll seek him each step of the way, He'll be faithful to provide exactly what you need to keep you moving forward.
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