A Redefinition

Working here on the house today got me thinking of an old quote that I've heard in the past. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." It turns out that quote is Woody Allen's variation of an old Yiddish proverb.  I don't really think God would ever laugh at my expense, but it's a thought-provoking quote, nonetheless, that really got me thinking about making plans.

 

I was trying to think of a great analogy for making plans, and I came up with chocolate.  :)  A big, solid brick of it.  Yum!  Maybe not the best analogy, but here goes.  Sometimes, when we make plans, it's kind of like that brick of chocolate.  They seem solid and sturdy.  With some heat, though, chocolate can melt into a mess.  That mess doesn't have to be deemed a waste, however.   We can do things with that mess of chocolate - like pour it into cute molds and turn it into a completely different shape altogether.  I feel like God can do that with our plans - melt them down and make them into a completely different shape than they were before.  (A chocolate brick sounds good, but if given a chocolate bunny instead, how much more excited would a child be on Easter?)

 

To say things haven't gone exactly as we planned for them to go so far out here in Ohio is an understatement.  When we made our move, we planned for Adam to flip houses as his full-time job.  We thought maybe three to four houses a year would be realistic and ideal. However, we are now nine months in, and finally our first "flip" house is coming to completion. Which leads me to believe that we need to redefine what has actually been done to this house. Flipping denotes buying a house, doing minimal improvements, and quickly putting the house back up on the market for profit.  Rehabbing involves much more time and effort.  We can't continue to call our house a "flip" when it never was in the first place; it's a "rehab." There have been blood, sweat, and tears put into that house, so this new label does wonders for my peace of mind.  Now I can say, with confidence, that we're not unsuccessfully flipping this house; but rather we're successfully rehabbing and restoring it.

 

So maybe this first venture hasn't gone according to our own plans exactly.  God applied a little heat here and there. I'm excited to see what He has in store for us next.  I'm eager to see how God will take our plans and expectations, maybe melt them down a little, and make them into something slightly different or maybe into another shape altogether.

 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

 

 

 

 

 

The Beginning of the Journey: Our Reason for Moving

If I told you this journey has been an easy one and that we've handled it with nothing but grace so far, I wouldn't be telling you the truth.  This has been a tough transition back to Ohio.  Let me explain. 

After graduating from college and getting married shortly thereafter, Adam and I spent 4 years together in Ohio.  Life was good.  Family was close by, we both had great jobs, and things were pretty simple with just the two of us under one roof.  However, a career opportunity arose for Adam, and we decided to move on it. Off to Philadelphia we went.

The more time we spent in Philadelphia, the more complex and beautiful our lives became.  It's hard to explain what makes one's life beautiful, but here's my personal definition: the mileage on a marriage (through both good and bad), the raising of children, the interdependence formed with friends, family, and community, and the growing closer to Christ through it all.  I loved our life in Philly.  So why would we move?

Moving back to Ohio was two-fold and oh so bittersweet.  Bitter because we would be leaving the place where our lives had grown so much, where our three children were born and raised, and where our friends and neighbors (who had both become like family) and some extended family resided.  Sweet, however, because we would be moving back to where our family was (parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, and niece), and furthermore, Adam would be able to pursue a dream.

After working in residential construction for almost five years and in a facet of the commercial construction industry for eight, all the while working for someone else, Adam wanted to try working for himself.  He wanted to rehab homes for resale. 

With the disparity in housing costs, it only made sense to move back to Ohio from a business perspective.  We sold our lovely home in the greater Philadelphia area (thanks to all the work Adam had done on it over the eight years we lived there) for two hot messes in the greater Cleveland area.  One extremely hot mess would be the flip house.  The second and more moderate hot mess with a few acres of land would be our new home.

More about our "hot messes" to come...