Thursday, November 22, 2007

THANKSgiving

There's been a bit of a pall cast over this year's approaching holiday season, mostly due to the following prospect: we are leaving our temporary housing as of Sunday and the house is not ready. Even if it WERE ready to move in to, "ready" is SUCH a relative term. The prospect of moving in right now involves accepting a living environment closer to camping out than moving into a finished dream house. The house is a complete disaster area with inches of saw/plaster dust covering every surface, tools spread out on every floor (the living room, office, and basement all have their own "workshops" set up on them), unfinished cabinets without shelves or doors or handles, floors that need tiling and some that need finishing, and miles and miles of finish work to be. Oh, and did I mention, no doors to any of the bedrooms? So, even IF the plumber comes Friday and gets the heat working and IF the carpenters finish the stairs and railings and IF we pass inspection...

...OK, OK, snap out of it, Ben! Get some perspective: we HAVE a home, albeit an unfinished one. Think of all the people in the world (in our own state, even) who don't have ANY housing, or whose housing barely meets their needs. Do you even hear one of those stories on the news about some place in the world where the people are experiencing such unimaginable suffering that it snaps everything into perspective and you realize you have NOTHING to complain about? And so much to be thankful for. So, here I am, snapping out of it. Stepping back and seeing the big picture, taking a deep breath. We have so much to be thankful for (come on, join with me here) family, friends, employment, plenty to eat, clothes to wear, a safe and warm place to live, a country that prizes freedom, tolerance, and justice. For all of these, I am grateful. Happy Thanksgiving.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooh. I feel your pain. We called it camping with a mortgage and it wasn't my vision of how I wanted things to be.

But. If it makes you feel any better, my memories (and my husband's) of doing this type of thing with our family as kids was MUCH different than dealing with it as an adult. It was exciting! Fun! Adventurous! We could set up a tent...INDOORS! We hung blankets over the doorways! Everything was full access!

So, you can always think about it as making memories for you kids :)

Of course, if Aaron's mom could do it over, she'd prefer to NOT go through a snowy Nebraska plains winter in the 70's with the second story of the house jacked up with tire jacks and plastic separating the outdoors from the indoors. But Aaron and his sister LOVE telling the story years later.

Rechelle said...

Excellent save there Ben. Enjoy your blog. Rechelle

Anonymous said...

We're praying for you, Ben, Susie and family! Hope you can move in soon!

Randy & Jacquie...we're on our own adventure!