Remodel

Today (and yesterday), I helped a friend research some materials for the remodel of her 1910 Craftsman home. She's exhausted. It is not easy to combine her tastes with her husbands, wanting to please everyone, deal with designers, contractors, general laborers (like the dillweeds that working on restoring/staining her windows...family business or not, some people simply do not belong in the front line of dealing with customers!) Then of course, I throw in my two-cents, by her request which is great... but I want to respect the boundaries of that request and friendship, and honor her tastes and thoughts while offering my honest-but not hurtful-opinions. Taking on such a task of a remodel, no matter the scale, has an Eiger of decisions to be made.

Lighting alone, is such a mountain. One thing that I think is great through the process is that in the quest to find the "perfect lighting", you're able to narrow down your tastes. You have to look at billions of lighting fixtures, seemingly, to discover the cliche and mundane, ugly, cold commercial, tacky, wishful thinking, and ahh...just the right one. We did the 3 bedroom ceiling lights, the stairwell, landing, and entry. We even have a back up plan if things, for whatever reason, don't look perfect. It was really rewarding to see her smile as she made her first purchase. Sighs of relief. Twinkles of delight.

I'm glad to be her friend. I'm glad for the opportunity to explore materials and furnishings with someone else in mind. It makes me feel good to have someone who wants to know my thoughts and appreciate them and even utilize them. In this, I am blessed.

Still pondering

Last week at church, Richard told and interesting story...seen here. The whole sermon was really good... you can download it here. The memorable thought that captured my pondering mind was this:

"Life is a train ride during a 100 year storm."

Seasons changing

Some Autumns are better than others. Temperatures plummeted last couple weeks to the 40's but slowly and surely it's warming back up again. This is the habit of the beautiful Northwest. And as with every season of change, there are challenges. Certainly, some days are better than others... but always challenging non the less. Along with happy feelings, there is discomfort. Optimism battles reality. Sunsets are precious and beautiful. Leaves crunching underfoot are brittle skeletons of what once held prismatic glory. Alas, this is life. This is the inhaling and exhaling of existence that must occur. Life, and death. It's easy to feel the presence of God in the warmth of the sun on my face, and his Spirit in the sunbeams radiating from heaven. It's in the overcast clouds that my faith quivers. Rhetorical questions swirl in the vortex of my mind. The orchestrated chaos of change wisps me about like a fallen leaf in a miniature twister. Oh.... to be a mighty oak... (or a chestnut tree such as these above) rooted in the rich soil of God's grace and mercy.