
It's not like I've never been out on a limb with God before. This should be old hat. God is in control. God knows and He has never failed. But it is so easy to want to grab the reins and control things myself. That's just it though. I'm not the one in control. He is and that is good. So today while the mud dries, way too slowly, I will share with you about another project that went way too slow. However, now its where I go to escape the stud walls, lath ceilings, and piles of mess. It is our bathroom.
When we accepted the house we knew the first project would have to be the bathroom. It had not been used for years because the cast iron drain had multiple holes in it. Pete had used the awkward bathroom squished under the stairs, which was fine for one person but not nine. We did at least put up a shower curtain for some privacy while we worked on the real bathroom. A long story short we ended up basically gutting it, even ripping up floor boards to get to the pipes that needed to be replaced. I can't find any pictures of the original room because they are packed somewhere in our living room (storage facility) but here are some of the earliest pictures I have.
Finally we were going to put in the exhaust fan! Again, I overlooked the "little" things. Just put a hole in the ceiling and ta-da we have a light/fan. Well...the box for the fan was bigger than the hole that was already there. Ok, so make the hole bigger, right? Yes, but that brought a flood of newly blown in insulation and a much bigger hole than we needed. Also, in order to exhaust the bathroom we had to run a duct from the fan to the outside. Remember the 18 inch think blanket of insulation and the over 100 degree days? Well, I was shaking and sweating as I placed one board in front of the other crawling 15 feet across beams I couldn't see in the attic. One wrong move and through the ceiling I would go. Marty had a ladder on the porch roof as he drilled through the outer wall to connect the duct work. Yeah, I discovered the hard way just how much it takes to get those "little" things done.

The bathroom is now "done" thanks to a lot of people who worked together and gave a gift. I would still like to do a few things with the bathroom but I will have to be patient. It's time to move on to other projects that are also a great need. But when I get overwhelmed I go back to my bathroom and remind myself, "It can be done. It can be done..." So I must be patient and wait for that mud to dry and there's nothing I can do to rush it. God has it under control and He's working out the details I don't even know about. Ok, maybe I feel a little less like a puppy now. Maybe I'm more of a tiger watching his prey - patiently waiting for the right moment but ever so ready to pounce when it comes.
James 1:2 - 5
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
More bathroom pictures
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