Trying to have a meaningful Monday!

Mind you it's Monday and time to get back into your daily routine on this October 20, 2008. I spent most of Saturday over at our damaged house trying to get things arranged to begin construction. We still need to get rid of some furniture and get stuff packed up to go into storage until after the restoration process is completed. I remember the insurance adjuster saying that we sure had a lot of stuff. I told him it was accumulated in that house for over twenty four years and actually some of it is much older than that. We have a pump organ that still works, just ask the grand kids, and it was built in 1899. One of the things you most likely would guess is that if you have room you are prone to not throw things away. It has now come time to deal with this challenge. I most likely have records that go back to the 1960's. One would hope the statute of limitations has been up for many years by now on much of what we have retained. I also have loads of stuff from my nearly twenty four years with the same company. Most of this can probably be gotten rid of. Getting rid of things is a very tedious process for me. I have notes from my Bible studies that go back for years. Some of them fill up many note books. I have gone back and read some of them on occasion but for some reason I don't like to throw things like that away. BUT, there comes a time when it must be done and that time is now!

As we think about the future I've tried to get hold of some frame of reference for a master plan. First and foremost I believe we should keep in mind that material things in this life are very temporary and we should seriously consider this as we make decisions about refurbishing and refurnishing our home. In addition to that we should also bear in mind the fact that we may not always be in that particular residence since we no longer have need for that much space. In talking to a real estate agent at Church service last night he said they were predicting a fairly healthy market for our particular area within the next 12 to 18 months. This may or may not happen but it is something we should consider in terms of making the house attractive if we think we might want to sell it. We are well aware that planning is just that, planning. James, the writer of the first preserved letter in the New Testament said that we should always frame any and all of our plans with a clear connection to God and His will. He said we should always say we will do this or that, today or tomorrow, IF God wills. Therefore, this will be our fundamental basis for how we proceed in that we will do our best to plan as God provides.

I don't know about you but we have a busy week of activities already on the books for this week, if God wills. We have several things to get done regarding getting construction started on our damaged home. These, of course, are subject to change and often they do. My wife plans to be off a few days to finish packing stuff up for storage. I will be working to finalize the bidding process and getting a contractor selected and started. In addition, I will need to work with the insurance company on dealing with the variances between their estimates and the actual bids we have received. That should be fun! By the way, all of these things, just like our plans, are in God's hands as well. They may not go smoothly but they will be opportunities for us to either live up to our identity as those who carry the name of Jesus, or we will become frustrated and angry and end up perhaps tarnishing our testimony. I've most likely already experienced at least some of the latter but I am committed to doing my best to come through all of this with a sense of my duty to represent my Lord at all times, even when things don't go my way. That's a pretty good goal for us all and one I will need God's help if I am to see it accomplished in my dealings each day. Have a great week. Seek the Lord while there is yet time and remember to thank Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do as we pursue the life He has given to us! Amen. More later.