Being Grateful for the Process When The Goals Seem Insurmountable

My home
My Joy
Is Barred and Bolted
And I...
Won't Letcha In.

Kate Bush - The Dreaming

My partner and I bought this house in September, 2004. I cannot believe that nearly six years have passed since we moved in and began the process of renovation. We knew this would be no overnight project, but we certainly did not anticipate that it would take all of six years.

I chose the above verse from a Kate Bush song because for six years this house has all but been barred and bolted. Our visions of gatherings 'round sizzling barbecues or nights spent around a game board have been placed on hold until the renovations made the house hospitable. Yet, what defines hospitable?

As happened with the death of my father, I am awakening to the onslaught of time and yet another ungentle dose of reality, which, put simply is that I may be waiting a very long time until my visions become reality, and in the interim life streaks by me.

How can I alter this reality that has come to dominate my life? How do I encapsulate the larger than life, what cannot be accomplished in a day's work into an achievement that can be appreciated at the end of a day?

These and many other answered questions await me each morning when I pop out of bed. They would overwhelm me if I didn't take a moment to meet with my Maker for some much needed guidance. If I spend a few minutes just sitting quietly thinking about God and am grateful for all that God has created in this world, I can gain the perspective I need to confront the daily projects.

As I see it, the Maker didn't necessary create the world in which I live just for me, yet I have never failed to find something in it that touched me deeply. Perhaps I should do as the Maker does and be joyous in the creation, and let those around me share my joy as they are able at their own pace. Some of what I make may not be meaningful to one, but will be to another. What one cannot appreciate, another will even as I have waxed hot or cold to the elements in the world around me.

I will strive only to be happy with the work of my own hands, and the blessings of the Maker delighting in what each day brings to me. Whatever I do has been done before, but not in my unique way. I believe that it pleases the teacher to see the student find solutions each in his or her own way.