Back in June, Adriane and I decided to really getting going on the rental house, we had been working on it some off and on during the Spring but not with any true dedication.  Once June arrived I had a freak out moment and realized we had to get this house fixed up and rented.  So we went for it!  Days turned into nights, work weekends turned to work weeks.  For 6 weeks straight we "worked on the house".  Even Graham started to say 'go to the house?'  At first it was tough and then something shifted in me and I started to really enjoy the work, even though nights before I had gotten little sleep, woke up to work 10 hours at my day job, I still found that God was giving me the energy to get it done and to enjoy it as I was doing it.  Now of course we would have never finished had I not had the huge help and support from Adriane.  She was awesome on planning our purchases, visiting Home Depot daily (really) and helping me remember everything, along with doing alot of the physical work as well, she rocks on texturing.  I again discovered the goodness of God by her being such a great helpmate, it made me realize (yet again) how she is a helpmate to me in most all areas on my life, and I am so happy about that (she sometimes jokes about where would I be without her, well, I remember the days I was without her and where I was, very glad those days are over). One other reason we were pushed to work so much is because we had a hard and fast deadline - July 24th.  This was the day that my best friend Andy was marrying the love of his life and...they were planning to live in this newly remodeled home (yes, they are right next door to us, and yes he was my college roommate, who wudda thought it?).  So, he and Laura were gracious to us in giving us time, they had hoped it would be ready at the first of July - no way, then maybe by the 15th, close but still no way, but by July 19th, it was somewhat livable and Andy started to move things in.  We kept working up until the day before the wedding.  We also worked some while they were on their honeymoon, bonus time, but we can finally say - It is finished.  Now, of course there are small things that I want to do, that need to happen but they don't require Adriane and I up late every night anymore.  They are small weekend projects that work around the new tenants schedules.  In the fall, Andy and I hope to work on the outside some and get some nice landscaping put in.  Ok, ok, so that's the story, are you ready for the pics?  I love these kind of transformation pics - we didn't fully plan out the photos from day one but I think you can get a good idea of the change that happened.  Adriane and I are very proud parents right now to this home and it is a blessing to us to have people we love living in it too. First are the project pics, to get an idea of what our many hours looked like: These are the " sin/redeemed" (before/after)  pics: KITCHEN ------------------------------ HALL BATHROOM ___________________ HALF BATH _____________ FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE LIVING ROOM - HALF WALL KNOCKED OUT. __________________ LIVING ROOM (not the same angle but you get the idea) l More Finished pics.... So there you go - our summer summed up in just a few before/after pics.  If you would like to see the full size pics, go to our flickr page. Ok, what's next...Fall!

So a few weekends ago we began the house renovation project. After closing on the house just 4 days earlier, it was time to pull out the carpet and start priming the walls. We used an oil based primer called Kilz, we needed the strongest primer we could find, the house had been filled with cigarette smoke for years, tar in air can do some nasty things. For 5 days we worked on the house in the time that we could, and then on Wednesday, we met there for house church. We had a time of worship and praying and writing scriptures on the walls. This house being symbolizing what we are praying to see happen in the Village (our neighborhood) going from dark to light! It was an encouraging time for me, I sense God's hand in our community calling us out and showing us the fruit that is there. It is a fun time in our house church and house churches! We multiplied recently, meaning our one house church is now three house churches that meet at three different homes. The really fun and exciting thing about it is that we are planning to do monthly celebrations in the Village starting in March. All three HCs coming together in some random place in the Village to pray, worship and contend for this neighborhood! I can't wait! More on that for sure! back to the house - it will be a prayer house will we are fixing it up. Anyone is welcome to come, getaway and spend time with him for an hour or evening. Ok ok, more on that later too. rjs