Back to Building Things

My Giant has gone back to building things for work instead of drawing things on people.  It's a shift in my home and my heart since we no longer work together for a paycheck. We continue to work together here at home to raise this awesome family of 3 teens, and 1 young adult that God has given us, but I miss him at my other work place, ever so much.  That's a blog for another day... today I want to talk about building things.
Several months ago my sister Jenny and I were having a conversation about a proverb found in the bible ; "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands." Proverbs 14:1
Birthed out of this conversation my sister started this awesome blog;  Proverbs 14 Project Please check it out if you have a minute or two, but don't go just yet ; )

We talked about what it looks like to build a house metaphorically speaking of course, because neither myself or my sister Jen have real good carpentry skills.
She's a little more handy than I am with a hammer and nails, but we both know
all those building genes were given to our little Brother Greg.

The skills my brother Greg and My Giant have in the department of building things are off the charts.
But for real... Bob the builder has got nothing on these two genius builders!

Again, a blog for another day.

Back to the conversation with my sister Jen. We talked about how even before we were married women we were building in our life a metaphorical house, and even way back when we knew what we wanted that home to look like.

Now, having a young adult daughter who left to go build her life again in Washington, I am thinking about how important it is to have a good foundation in this life, before you go off to build, walls, doors, and windows.

(the cabin before we started building there)

Since our conversation some months ago, I've started reading all the scripture I can find on building.... Come to find out there's a lot of building going on in the scriptures.    I hope to kind of unpack the boxes so to speak of what I've been building over here, and what I will hopefully build with words today on this here bloggy poo. 
There is a different kind of building outside of wood and nails that happens from the day you were born until the day you die.  From our early years when we are just learning what we love, what we are good at, what makes our very own hearts sing, to the years later when we decide to build with someone else, if we decide to build with someone else, we are always either building or tearing things down.
I have come to know that in one lifetime there is a lot of building that takes place. 
Whether we build in a business, marriage, or relationships with friends we are always either building or tearing things down. Right from the start we are building habits in our lives that if they are good can in return build a good foundation for life, but if they are bad will tear us down in the end. 
"Can we Fix it? YES WE CAN!!"
The things that you say yes, or no to in this life are the hammer and nails of this metaphoric kind of building.  How they affect your person as well as your soul, and all the people around you become the walls and the doors. 

This makes me 

  wonder have I been the hammer or the nail? Am I a wall or a door?

For instance, if you are physically active person with sports and exercise your building a body that will hopefully be able to like the song says;  "jump around, jump around, jump up and jump down" well into your 70s, 80s, and Lord willing even your 90s, maybe even your 100s!!
If you are person who loves to study and learn from books you are building a brain that will have a satchel full of information to pass onto to younger generations.  "Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family)[*nation] built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation].  Proverbs 24:3
The house that these scriptures are talking about is the house of our lives.  Our bodies.  Our interest. Our passions. Where we live day in and day out.   In my young adult years I have been primarily focused on building this awesome family that God has given me.  It started when I fell in love with a boy named Moses and promised my love and devotion to him at the young age of 19.  We built for only 6 months before we committed to each other a covenant to be married 6 months later.  We then had 3 years together before kids.  Moses btw was the one who wanted to start a family right away... I wanted at least 5 years together just the two of us before adding on, and so we compromised, and 3 years later came Miss Emma Faith  Oh how quickly we built this family!  We built 4 babies in 6 years.  That was a lightening fast build if you ask me... and honestly,  I think I'm still unpacking and settling into that major build.  (wink emoticon here) I have been building this house with the help of my genius builder husband and my master builder Jesus for 22 years!! Whew, thats a whole lotta building ! But, even before I said "I do" at 20 years old  there were those childhood years with my parents and siblings, and even though I didn't realize it, I was building there too.
I would call those childhood years our foundational years. 
This is where we have to learn to build ourselves up, in order to go out into the world and build with others.  I personally, was learning how to share coming from a family of 5 kids including myself. I was given the great gift of my faith and the practice of it, and how God plays a role in every detail of my life.  I was blessed with good foundational years.  I had parents who encouraged me and really were my biggest cheer leaders in this life.  They still are!!  Thank you Mom and Dad if you are reading this <3 center="">
<3 center=""> But, if that wasn't your story your foundation years might look quite different, and at some point you have to go back to those years and re-build the foundations of your life. 
These souls that re-build the foundations of their lives are some of the most brave, and courageous people I know. 

I can't even begin to express the awe, and emphathy I have in my heart for the people who have had to go back and re-build their foundation. They are an inspiration to me, and truly some of my life's greatest heroes.

And now, currently these are the years that I feel I'm on the long home stretch of raising these 4 humans in the ways that they are building their foundations. I know that God has graciously given me, and my Giant these precious souls to guide and lead for life, but they are all quickly approaching the ages where they start leading their own lives. They will make decisions all their own that will shape their futures, and all I can hope and pray is that we've given them a good foundation.
At the same time while continuing to build here at home many people say that your 40's become the years that you build your financial security.  You begin to think about the years ahead, and how you might want to retire and stop building someday, and because of the ticking clock of your aging body, there seems to be a scurry of building that happens outside of yourself. 

Because of this I feel as though I'm being pulled in every direction and that I have all these mini- building projects going on!!
Can I get a witness ?
 In all this scurry and building, I have been reminded recently,  that this house here soon will change and already has.  Physically as each child grows up and moves out and starts building their own house, but also spiritually as my prayers for these precious lives will change and so will the focus of my own life. 
In the process of letting go, and gratefully letting the changes happen, I don't what to tear down what I've worked so hard to build here on this masterpiece called my family.
"Unless the Lord builds the house the laborers labor in vain" Psalm 127:1
There will come a day when the house we live in will be smaller because there won't be need for a lot of rooms.  But that doesn't mean I get to stop building. I don't think we ever get to stop building. Aren't we continuing to build right up until our dying breath what we hope to spend all of eternity enjoying?
Even grandparents who are in their 60s and 70s are still building for the next generation.  They are setting an example of what retirement life can or should look like. Maybe we get to retire from our jobs that pay the bills, but we don't ever get to stop building in this life.  I don't want to labor in vain on a building project that is not eternal and will soon turn back into dust. 
"[Put first things first] Prepare your work outside and get it ready for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house and establish a home. " Proverbs 24:27

Once you grasp the idea that everything you do in your life is a part of a larger picture and in a sense building something, you begin to see this even carries over into church, communities, and politics.   When thinking about the world at large and this amazing country that I was born in I start to see that even there I have been working toward building something. I've been reading about things in history and how these nations were built.  The laws and constitution and what our forefathers wanted to build was a place that was so different from the one they left behind.  Overtime if those same priorities for building are not maintained then the outcome can be very different from the blueprint that was set before us some 200 years ago. 

(the cabin after some major re-building went down)

The foundation of this house has been shaken once again, and it has proved to me once again that we have a GOOD foundation.  When life changes whether by a job change, a death in the family or of a friend it has a similar response like the feeling after an earthquake. All you can do is stand and wait for the aftershock and you hope that the foundation of the earth won't move again. 
Gravity and the ground we stand upon, is something that we all take for granted. 
But when the foundation is not solid and can't be counted on then you begin to question everything.  You wonder how was this house built? Thankfully, and with an incredible amount of awe for knowing this at such a young age, I know my foundation is secure. So when the earth shakes I hold onto my anchor in this life and know that this house was built on solid ground. I wait for the rumbles and shakes to pass and then look for cracks in the walls that might need to be repaired.  I pick up the broken pieces by the grace of God and move forward without fear.    "According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it." 1 Corinthians 3:10

Long after I am gone, what I have spent my life building with either continue on or like dust just blow away with the winds of change.
I'm taking the time to build well in every area of my life, and when I see areas for renovation I choose to be the hammer and not the nail.

There is still so many more thoughts on this topic that are rolling around, but before this turns into a novel I'm going to just put this out there.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this beloved reader.
Until I have more thoughts to share just know I'm over here singing ;

"Bob the builder
Can we fix it?
YES WE CAN!!"