A City Life For Me

Elaine and I have been memorizing Philippians this year.  I am behind schedule, and behind Elaine.  But we continue to press on, because hiding God’s Word in our hearts is important.  I have been reminded of that recently because He is using those verses that I am learning to comfort my heart and reassure me as I walk through some uncertain and sad waters. I lived most of my life just thirty minutes away from my mom’s parents.  Grandma and Grandpa.  They were a part of everything – every birthday dinner, every piano recital.  Everytime I flew to college they came to say goodbye and press a $20 into my hand.  Every Christmas Eve we spent crammed into Grandma’s basement or living room with my crazy extended family singing carols, reading the Christmas story, and opening more presents than should be allowed. Grandma is not doing well right now.  She went to the ER this week with intense abdominal pain and they found a hole in her small intestine....

If you missed the other posts, you can find them here: UPSTAIRS (part 1) MAIN FLOOR (part 2) BASEMENT (part 3) This project was definitely a family affair, but we also had a lot of helpers.  Ben’s parents came to Bronx four weekends in a row.  My parents came from Colorado for a week.  The Jackey boys helped knock out the basement.  Alex spent 4 or 5 days assisting Ben with anything.  Freddy came to paint, and Pastor Dan helped with painting and flooring.  After we moved in, Diane helped us paint the main floor, and the Bickels helped us paint trim.  Here are some misc pictures of the process…    Ben and Nolan working on the basement bathroom sink // Kids pulling staples to prep for the new flooring.  They got a penny for every staple they cleaned up!    Elaine prepping the floor // Twins scrubbing paint off the steps   Elaine was Pastor Dan’s runner for doing the new floor // The kids also pulled a lot of nails out of the...

If you missed the other posts, you can find them here: UPSTAIRS (part 1) MAIN FLOOR (part 2) Basement – Before The basement is long and skinny, and from the front of the house to the back there is an alcove, main room with old kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, and then the furnace/laundry room.  The previous owner’s dog lived in the basement, so we had to rip everything out.  Now there are no walls, and we have poured new concrete.  The bathroom is functional but needs some tile repair.  Ben uses the alcove as his workshop. We haven’t done much changing, except for the demolition process.  The refinishing will have to be completed a little at a time, as the budget and time allows.  Ben will do most of the work himself, even the drywall mudding.  There was a drop ceiling and we’d like to put in a regular ceiling, so there is a good amount of work to be done.    Furnace room/laundry room.  We knocked out walls and doorways to make this more o...