Built on the Rock

Why do we ever doubt how amazingly spectacular our God is? Just why?

I think its so not much that I doubt him, but I have questioned: Why? How much longer? Do you hear my cries? Is there an end in site? Are you there God? We humans are such an impatient bunch of people.

I have to remind myself: 2 Peter 3:8-9 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.”

I started a new Bible Study this week on the book of Habakkuk. Who knew 3 little chapters could pack such a punch. Habakkuk is crying out to God asking why he is silent? He is questioning how good can God be if he is allowing so much evil and hate in the world. One of the main points of Habakkuk is that we must exercise faith in the face of chaos. Let the darkness in your world be an invitation to put even more faith in our awesome God and trust His timing.

This morning as I was heading out to the porch to spend some time with Him he gave me a little wink. I looked up as I was opening the backdoor. That’s when I magically saw through the paint, trim and sheetrock and remembered the verse written on stud above that door I was about to walk out: “His mercies are new every morning”, Lamentations 3:23

A smile came to my face as I thanked God for reminding me my home is literally covered in His word! Family and friends stopped by and took the time to write His word on our house. Friends that couldn’t come text me specific verses to write on our home. I even saw a few verses written by the guys that were part of building our home.

I felt this little wink from God was not only a reminder, but God saying “I see you”. I see you going out this door every morning and soaking up my word. I see you talking to me throughout your day. I see you not letting this trail consume you because you know I have you. He is so sweet to assure me again and again that He is with me.

After my time with him this morning I grabbed my phone and started looking at those verses covering our house. I zoomed in to read some of them. I laughed because some of the verses appropriately matched the room they were written in.

This morning I thanked God that our house was built on the rock! In 2021 we took a leap with Him. We left what we thought was our forever home in Alabama, our boys, our secure jobs and 18 years of friendships to follow His promptings and come back to our farm in Kentucky. We prayed and listened to him with each step we have taken on this journey. We have let Him be our guide and we will continue to trust Him on this journey.

 Matthew 7:24-27 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

This home is built on the rock!

Suck it satan! You can bring on the rains, the floods, the winds and try to beat us down. IT WON’T HAPPEN! I am built on the rock! My husband is built on the rock! Our home is built on the rock and our farm is built on the rock! My trust is in the Lord!

To the Window, To the Walls…

To the window, to the walls, to the tears drip down my face! 😀 Are you picturing the Get Low scene from The Proposal? I know I am! 😀

Seriously yall I was not expecting the day the walls went up to be so emotional. We were on week four of the build and Kevin had started going to help everyday. He had called to say they were close to getting the first wall up so I decided to stop by and check it out.

When I arrived it looked like this!

I must say its really cool to watch these guys work. Phil and Les don’t even have to communicate and Phil just grabs a scrap piece of wood and starts working numbers. Next thing you know they have a wall laid out! When this first small section of the front wall went up I was giddy with excitement. It was happening! Walls are going up on our dream home!

Next was to raise the rest of the front wall. I didn’t know how the 3 of them would do it. I walked out in front of the house so I could take it all in. When that wall started coming up I was overcome with emotions. I was in awe seeing Kevin being a part of building our home. I was so proud of my man. I was full of gratitude to God for making this possible. I felt a peace wrap around me as I thanked God and told him how much I loved it. I was just completely overcome by emotion and comforted by God all at the same time. The tears did not stopping falling down my face!

And there is the front wall of the house!

By the end of the week we not only had our 4 exterior walls up, but half of the interior walls! The following week they finished the interior walls and now it is looking like a house! Its awesome to walk around the rooms and start to get an idea for how things will be.

Next comes trusses!

We have been back in Kentucky for 7 weeks now and with each passing day I am more assured that this is exactly where God wants us. There are days when I feel like I am in limbo and don’t have a purpose but I have to come to realize those thoughts and feelings are all in my head. That is the devil trying to throw me off. God has us exactly where we need to be right now. Our family needs us right now more than ever. God has made it where we are available for them. I am trusting in Him and his path for us. I know in due time more of His plans for us will be revealed, but right now we just need to be here in these moments with our family and take in the joy of building our little farmhouse.

Footers, Blocks and Electricity Oh my!

When my uncle said it would go fast he wasn’t kidding! Be the end of week one we had the footers poured and were waiting on the blocks to arrive!

After the footers were poured it was the daily drive by to see if the blocks had arrived! One afternoon we showed up and got to see this beautiful rainbow! Thank you God for reminding us of your promise!

Not long after we left the blocks arrived. The next day we drove over to the farm to see the progress just as a downpour came so this was all we saw…

That was a big ole downpour, so it was a couple days before anything else happened.

Friday night our boys showed up around 10! It was so good to see them and talk to them in person! We couldn’t wait to get up the next morning and take them to the farm. They grew up going to the farm and love it as much as we do so this was a special moment for us!

It was so cool to show them the house and walk them through where everything will be. My oldest was thrilled about how close we are to this finger of woods and the open field on the other side of it. He couldn’t stop talking about the deer that are around this spot. We told him about all the deer and turkeys we have been seeing the past few days with the cooler weather. I think he is in love with the idea of walking out the backdoor to hunt!

They got started on getting electric out to the house, too. Next is digging the line the to road for it and for water. By the end of this week they should start on the floor joist, too! We picked our brick and siding for the house, too!

As much as it is exciting, it is also a little scary picking out things and hoping they will look as good in real life once its all done, as it does in your head when you pick it! Just like the floor plan–I couldn’t find anything that was exactly what I wanted. So I took from different plans and made my own. I found a great home plan designer on Etsy and sent her what I drew up and she worked with me to draw up exactly what I wanted and the square footage I wanted. So, if you don’t find what you are looking for find someone who can help you get it just how you do want it. Vision boards have also been a huge help. I did a basic set for my uncle and have a very detailed set for me. I am constantly adding and taking away as everything comes together. Now that I have a color scheme for the exterior and interior things are falling into place.