Dreaming of building the perfect family home started at a young age for me. After a tragic day in February, when a tornado ripped my family's 100 year old farmhouse down, we began planning soon after to rebuild. My mother and I (then age 9) looked at house plans for weeks. We scoured books and magazines and drove around other towns looking at houses. We settled on a plan and construction took about 10 months. I loved helping and being included in the process. I kept a folder of house plans and added to it frequently while growing up. I daydreamed of the family I would have one day and the house we would build together.
That dream came true three years ago. We built the house we are in now about 700 feet from my parents' house that was built 35 years ago. It is not from a house plan in my old folder, but it is a plan we worked on as a family. My girls got to help design their shared bathroom, and we all helped choose different things throughout the house. The kitchen is amazing and my son loves having his own bathroom. It was a fun process...daunting, but fun!
A few weeks after moving in, I was walking up the stairs when something caught my eye. There, two spindles in was a mismatched spindle. It was bigger than the others and not quite the same shape. How did this happen? Who was in charge of the spindles? How did this mistake not get caught? It stayed on my mind for a few days. I showed it to my husband. He laughed. What could we really do about it now? It was hardly noticeable, so what was the real issue? I came to find peace and even meaning in the mismatched spindle.
It reminds me that a house can never be perfect. This is our home on earth and there will never be perfection here. Jesus is returning one day to take us to our real home. He will reign, and we will be made new. This building of wood and windows can never be a perfect dwelling place. We cannot achieve a perfect home no matter how much we strive for one...and that's okay!
Our family cannot be perfect. I struggle with perfectionism. It is a sin. I cannot be the perfect wife, mother, daughter and friend. I fail; I mess up, and I will never be perfect this side of heaven. I cannot expect my family to be perfect either. Grace has to be offered on the daily to my family and to myself.
Yes the little things matter, but when they don't go as planned do not get too bent our of shape. "Don't sweat the small stuff." You have to let go of some things and look at the bigger picture. Standing from afar you cannot see the spindle, so I have to let it go.
We learned a lot about patience, trusting God's timing, and many other lessons while building this home. And now everyday, I have a reminder of these lessons and not to expect perfection, but simply to walk in grace, love and of course...show joy!
The picture does not do it justice...there is a real difference!!
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