How Did We Get Here?

           Three years ago if someone had told me our family would be living in an 110-year-old house in a less-than-attractive neighborhood I would not have believed them.  But God works in mysterious ways and this is exactly where He put us.  Drowning in debt, we had to leave our house in the suburbs of Chicago, and find a house for which we could pay cash and be mortgage free.  It was quite a search that led us farther and farther from the Chicagoland area.  Did I mention we had a SMALL amount of savings?  Still, we found a house that fit our budget.   

           On the upside it was a solid, old victorian with 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a large dining room, eat-in kitchen, and 2 car garage.  On the downside it was divided up into a two-flat, had been greatly abused and neglected, had no furnace, needed siding, a new roof, new plumbing, flooring, and paint.  Lots of paint.  The only things salvageable in the kitchen were the cabinets.  In other words, it needed a ton of work.  But that's what made it fit our budget.  My dear husband Tom did all the interior “big jobs” that needed to be done to make it livable.  It is important to note here that he does not work in the area of home remodeling.  But it is amazing what one can learn to do when one has to.  He is my hero.

We painted / sanded / stained / scraped / cleaned / tore things out / installed things and  now, almost two years later, it is not quite finished (is any home ever finished???) but it is definitely home.  
          Here are some things we have learned through this experience: 

1) Never buy paint at Sears (don’t ask why, just trust me on that one!)

  

2) Never sand a hardwood floor that has glue on it 

3) Never install carpet late at night because you’ll spend too much time laughing at the two foot high lump in the carpet instead of fixing it! 

4) We can pay down a lot more debt without a mortgage

5) We sleep much better in a house that has no mortgage

All of this has made us more aware of what is truly important in this brief, fragile life.  Since moving, we have given a lot of thought as to how we can serve God while we are here.  As servants of Christ we know that it is our duty to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15, Romans 10:15, 2 Timothy 2:25 and 4:1-2, 1 Corinthians 9:16) because it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).  But this seems difficult when supporting and raising a family.  So Tom came up with the idea of distributing door hanger bags containing a Gospel of John, 2 quality gospel tracts, and a response card inside.

  
             The children and I stuff them and if the weather is good, Tom and the boys take 30-50 bags with them on their early morning walks and they put them on doors.  They started with our block and are moving out from there.  Our goal is to give one to every household in this city.  To date we have distributed 1,720 bags and received 6 response cards asking for a free Bible which we offer on the card.  If you are a believer, please keep this effort in your prayers.