I Caught the Baby

12 April 2016 was the day of delivery.

I had no idea the labor would be so long...but I guess they say first babies take a long time to come...
It was Mark's labor, Fall through Spring and countless hours. And I caught the baby.

Little M and I 'caught' the baby (a.k.a. picked up the drawings) from the County Offices...

...And displayed them in the tree-mounted-weather-proof box for field use...making our building site official.

It was all of a short morning phone call announcing that our permit was (finally...gasp...at last...) ready to pick up- as if it were that simple! Mr. Plan Reviewer's signature assures that our house plans meet building code and we are free to proceed. 

Big M gets the credit for designing a lovely little creative house from scratch, maximizing building code, drawing with architecture software,  navigating processes, officials, and engineering, and building up the stamina to work around all the corners of a full-time job and family. I worked my brain's tail off to provide practically accurate opinions about a house I can't see but will live in, and empowered his hands to be free to design, while wrestling not a little with my role as labor support. Anyway, together we've stepped across the "Building Permit" line in the sand!

Garden Shed

Well there it is. The first building on our property! (picture is from January)

This garden shed was designed for and made of about 50% re-purposed materials and tucked into a sapling grove near the lower path to the woods...

"...Tucked??!! My eyeball!"--
 Okay, okay. That is the indignant cry of the men who precariously maneuvered the roof into place; who moved and re-moved the heavy beast through muck and slopes and frigid temps; who hauled, hoisted, and stacked the foundation rocks and steps. It was several days and teams worth of work-- Tucked indeed! 

But I say, it's darling. I am pleased as punch...and grateful!

...Uh...Anyone want to help with roofing and siding? :)

The garden shed represents my experience of 'quickening' in our building process.
In pregnancy, women call 'quickening' the first true experience of the baby's movement. It's a moment when the mystery changes into concrete reality...and excitement about what is to come.

Resurrection

My courageous sister alluded to the gift of guts that Dad gave us all in a post on teaching confidence. Today, in celebrating the Resurrecter of Life, I was blessed by a memory of my Dad modeling what he taught.

Every Easter, as faithfully as a street preacher, Dad would haul out a boombox and a well-worn soundtrack cassette tape. We would hear him practicing his solo, in un-throttled baritone, a song by Don Francisco. He would sing it for anyone who would have him-- Easter services at our tiny rural church, a prayer breakfast or two. In all the years he sang that song, he never got the timing...but did that stop him?

Holy week, when death and resurrection are freely talked about among Christians, I freely remember the shadows of death that have touched my life journey. But I REJOICE because the sting is truly not there. Death has been swallowed up in victory! The Savior has risen and we shall not die. These things are true! and they really rock the entropy of this world. As much as the author of Life is alive, so are those who are hidden in Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galations 2:20

I am sure Dad needs no boombox now.

Here is the song.

New Year's Resolution

These are the days

balmy sun, hints of green, and dirt inviting

when I start considering resolutions for the

new year

 'resolute' may or might not describe the mood

but there is an openness coming

I can feel movement in the 

dirt of me.

Maker of the Sun is warming my soil. 

The seed of Life- hidden with Christ, 

is yearning for more light, growth, blooming, fruit, 

and freedom! 

If I let the swelling 

break through my seed coat, 

I might even forget why I ever 

allowed resentment, judgement, blindness, defense, and doubt 

to shackle this life so long.

Treasures in the Snow

In the bleaks of winter, when grey seems to be predominate, growth and newness are memories of yesteryear, a sighting of color or fruit can lift and encourage the heart!

Here are some recently found treasures in or after the snow.

In the coldest week of the year, Little M suggested we search for flowers. I doubtingly obliged...

The faith of a child! After sub-freezing nights...

Focus on the white flowers (since my camera didn't)

Thriving winter ferns

We call her Fruit Bat, or Harvester Extraordinaire of wintergreen berries.

Sunlight in the woods

Quick- before it melts let's build things and sail leaf boats in the snow melt!

Alive in the out-of-doors

Two treasures

In Order, In Place

Order, in all its definitions, is not something that appeals to me. My Self readily takes flight in a open field or sky and is scrambled and uninspired by recipes and rules. I can handle a decent amount of chaos, especially other people's.


But in building- a house, a household, a pattern of life, a family- order has pressed itself upon me.

Until this week, it was scarce to be found in our schedules, our living room, my brain, etc...

But in a galvanizing situation of frustration, it seemed that a "strict schedule" came into view as the only option left.

We are now one week past this milestone (which to other families may be first order of business)... and our kitchen has never been more regularly tidy, hubby reported (if only 2 out of the 6 days) feeling more human for the first in a long time, and I have found myself appropriately ready to sleep at the ungodly-early hour of 9 p.m.

The hope is that this self-imposed structure will help our family stay afloat during a hard-working year of building, and on beyond. I think we've crossed a line that in many ways we might not cross back over during this stage of our lives.



One day Sabbath per week is, I may recall, is what God suggests. So I will adjust to managing child care 6 days/week and a higher % of domicile and repetitive duties per day than I ever thought I could put up with. And do I ever plan to keep that Sabbath holy!  :)

By ordering our collective time and energy, we hope that more important things...

Responding to the Holy Spirit...Growing and not disintegrating our marriage...Being a healthy family...Generosity... Relationships...and having a place to live...

...will also fall in place.

Beautiful things, I am learning, can even grow from within and out of structure...

...not the least of which, we hope, will be our house!

Grateful List 1

I realize that I can be grateful for the time that it has taken
for building a home to become this tangible. 

Time has served us in many ways:

Had we built last summer, we would not have known to include plans for flowing water and saturated soil in wet seasons.


Design ideas had time to gestate and mature.


We have had time to bond with the property, and have met someone who once lived there.


We have gained ideas for how we operate in a home and what features fit us best-

• from pairing down to essentials (most is in storage), 
• living in very different homes, 
• and having two years of learning what life and needs are like with a child.

We're also coming into the build from a year that, though not without significant challenges, has seen greater stability than in our five together thus far.

There is much to be grateful for! And more to come...


Photo credit: my sister