Constructing on a sure foundation

Hi there. I’m back…not that you ever realized that I’ve been gone, well I mean other than gone from this blog. Anyway, it’s been awhile. Look at my poor blog…so neglected. Ok,ok, not that it was ever really fully utilized, but I think this has been the longest span ever in its short life! And not only have I neglected it, but I left it void of color and life because I couldn’t figure out how I wanted it to look. I’m too picky I guess, but the choice of templates is way too limited even with being able to change colors and fonts. I don’t want anything Plain Jane, I want pizzazz! Or at least something that shows off my style and personality a little better! But thanks to my sweet sil who has mastered the blogging world and knows the ins and outs of backgrounds and banners, I’ll be working on decorating and fixing up the place. I’ve picked her brains a bit and I’m going to be peppering her with more questions until I am able to make mine as cute as hers…after I get off vacation that is (that’s why I’ve been gone…this summer has been a perpetual vacation, and a badly needed one at that!).

As to the new name "Under Construction", well, at first it I was changing things around so much it felt like a construction zone, so I thought I’d put that name up until I was done decorating, but after some contemplation I realized that it’s actually a very fitting title because it accurately describes the course of my life over the last, say, 14 years…

See, we’ve built two houses since we’ve been married and are in the process of building a third. The building process itself, once you get going, isn’t so hard, I actually enjoy that part, because it’s exciting to see the framing go up, and then getting to pick out all the things for inside is tremendously fun especially when you get to see it all come together. It’s time consuming, but usually very satisfying in the end. What’s been hard is that each house we have built hasn’t been for us, really. They were homes that were meant to be sold after living in them for a couple of years. But unfortunately a couple of years usually turned into three or four. But since I thought we’d only be there two I never took the time to decorate and make it as homey as I would if I had known we were going to be there longer. And then we were in rental homes between, which we were supposed to be in for maybe a year, give or take, but it usually turned into two or three (we’re going on three in our present rental). And it’s very hard to really make a rental feel like your own. So consequently I have never really felt at home anywhere, because everywhere I’ve lived was just going to be temporary. It’s a very unsettling feeling. And not only did I not decorate and move fully into my many houses, but I didn’t move in fully to my life! Everything was always put on hold “until the final house where we will have everything just like we want”. The problem is my kids grew up during this time. We are actually about 5 years behind schedule for the “final house”. My oldest should have been 12 when we moved into the “final house” and have at least 6 more years to go. As it is, my oldest will be going off to college in a couple of years and will only get to live in the house for maybe a year or two, and that’s only if she decides to go to a local junior college (crossing my fingers, I don’t want her to leave yet!), and the next child is only a year behind that!

That’s the short story, it’s much longer really and more complicated but the idea is that I have constantly felt “Under Construction”. So there it is. A fitting metaphor for my life and, hence, my new title. I kind of like it actually.

Let’s take this metaphor even further.

One scripture that I have been led to time and time again is Helaman 5:12...

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

You see, while my physical life has been in a constant construction process, so has my spiritual life. The difference is the physical things of my life are temporary. I’d like some of them to last a little longer than others. I’d like this next home to get built so that I can put down some roots and feel settled for awhile. I want a garden and a trampoline and a place for my kids to run around without worrying about them. But I still recognize that it’s all temporary. We could lose everything tomorrow and be living on the streets!

Spiritually though, I am building on a rock. I could not have weathered all the moving about if I were not. The walls that I put up to defend myself against the whirlwinds are built on a foundation that is not temporary. But I have to constantly be constructing those walls, and I also have to constantly be in touch with the Architect. He’s the one to tell me where the next board needs to go.

Therefore I am constantly “Under Construction”…but it’s so worth it.