Monday, January 23, 2012

Seasons of Pain become our Opportunity…

Seasons…

Seasons come & seasons go. And seasons also return. There are always lessons in every season of life that we face if we are open & aware. And with their return, it’s as if there is an opportunity to put to practice what we have learned. To put to the test the truth we have been given.

Sometimes, a season is composed of the difficulties & the trials of life, when hard things come upon us; pain & lack of comfort, as well as a lack of understanding in the matter. It’s a refining process, a season that purges us by the fire of affliction...

As I enter a returning season, I am reminded of the truth that God has given me on the issue of pain…
Rather than focusing on the discomfort & how to get out of it, instead changing my perspective to view it as an opportunity to go deeper with God. An opportunity to experience things with God that could not be experienced otherwise.
With trials & the pain of life, it opens us up to the depths of our being, revealing parts of our hearts & ourselves that we cannot always see & that may be hard to bear. But if we will yield to the process & let God do what He wants to do, letting pain produce fruit in our lives, it becomes a beautiful opportunity to experience a depth & an intimacy with God, that only comes from trusting God with the pain…

By trusting God, that He is Sovereign & that He has allowed the hard circumstances to enter our lives, we are trusting that there are things He wants to accomplish through it.
By trusting God with our trials & hard circumstances, we choose to stand. We choose to believe in the character of God & who He says He is, instead of choosing to believe what we are feeling or even what the world around us may be saying…

As I walk through the journey of my life, I see seasons come & go. And I see the seasons return again… It’s as if the roots of truth that were birthed through the lessons & trials are getting another chance to grow deeper; to go deeper…

God wants our roots to go deep, reaching into the depths of His Love & His purpose in our lives…
I’ve taken notice that it’s not when times are good & comfortable that we grow or gain the most understanding; it’s when times are hard & there is pain. It’s then, when pain becomes our opportunity…

An opportunity to stand firm on what we know to be true of God’s character, no matter what kind of turmoil surrounds us. An opportunity to see what we are really made of & how much we truly believe what God says in His word. An opportunity to let God reach into the deepest corners of our hearts & purge us of anything that doesn’t reflect His image. An opportunity to press into God, going deeper in intimacy with Him, letting Him speak to our hearts & teach us, giving us His perspective on the trials & hard circumstances we are facing…

There is always a choice of how we will let the pains of this life affect us. Will we let them destroy us? Make us bitter? Make us run from it or numb it with denial & earthly pleasures?

Or will we trust God & stand & yield?

Thanking Him that He has a purpose for allowing the pain to touch our life & it is GOOD.
Will we open up & let God take us deeper into our own hearts & let Him touch those places? Will we use the trials we are facing as an opportunity to grow, to change & to heal?

I am challenged by the opportunity to let a returning season take me deeper. I am challenged in the midst of turmoil & pain to stand firm on what God has spoken to my heart, instead of believing the many emotions I may be struggling with.

What does God’s word say? What do I know to be true of my God? What do I really believe about His character?

It’s in the season of trials & pain that we ask these questions; that we go deeper into the core of our faith. That we press into God & gain a deeper intimacy with Him.

So in reality, not only do seasons of pain & hard circumstances become our opportunity, but they also become our blessing…


"Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Weeping,
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength..."
Psalm 84: 5-7

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Boswell Family Drywall Party!!

And so the drywall begins...

It seems every time I mentioned to someone that I was about to start the drywall, people would say, "oh. I hate drywall."
All the more reason why it is totally awesome that the Boswell Family has come out to help me complete it!! Thank you so much to all of you Boswell's who have bent over backwards to help me with the cabin. We thought it might take 3 days to complete the drywall in the garage, but instead it has taken 3 weekends so far with more to do!!
It doesn't look like much, but cutting around curvy logs has made it a bit more time consuming.Even so, we have had a blast & I have certainly enjoyed the company & the new friendships! This fall weather has been amazing & the cool temps have been perfect for the first ever bonfire that we had!!





This blog entry is comprised of several different weekends of the Boswell's coming out to work on the drywall.



Adam & Zack hanging drywall












Landon, putting insulation in the walls for sound proofing












Adam is cutting out the hole for the stain glass in the bathroom wall













Connor with his oxygen mask on












Adam doing a fine job cutting drywall















Zack smiling big for the camera (I think he likes having his picture taken)









Wayne & Landon, who have both helped me out so much!! Thanks guys!













David spraying foam around the windows & at the base of the gable












Cutting drywall













David & Karen Boswell













David, doing a great job hanging drywall around the Ridgepole












Karen, who is the best "mudder" ever! Thanks Karen for all you have done to help












Landon hanging drywall & Karen sanding the first coat of mud she has applied












A great brotherly photo













Lance cutting drywall













David taping up the logs along the edges.









Part of the reason it has taken so long to do the drywall is because it is being fitted against a curvy log wall. David & Lance did a fine job scribing a pattern from the logs to transpose onto a piece of drywall, then cut it to fit the wall. It's going to look great!


A picture of the drywall coming along & the RPSL log we had to scribe to make it flow together











Landon up high putting a coat of mud in the gable












Me taping up the logs before we mud it with a little mud on my face...












Another thing we are working on is the entry door to the cabin. David built this really cool barbaric door for me out of some left over cypress logs I had cut into boards.
I'm putting a coat of stain on the door.










Lance hanging drywall by the loft. It's coming along!!











Another great brotherly photo (Lance & Landon)













Some of the Boswell boys mudding the entry way up the stairs to the apartment












Me & Lance; of course when you're mudding you gotta put a little mud on your face!











Well we are just one step closer to completion on the drywall. One more coat of mud & we'll be finished with this portion. Stay tuned!!