Handy Man

Well, I have got to say I am starting to feel like a bonified handy man. It is really quite amazing what becoming a homeowner will do for a person. The offer has been accepted, the mortgage papers have been signed and I am feeling like a homeowner, weird.

I have rented ever since I moved out of my parents home. As a spoiled rich kid growing up I never really respected the homes I lived in as a kid or really appreciated what it took to maintain and upkeep a home. The same has applied for each of the four rentals we have since we were married.
In fact, it has only been since in these last couple months that I have realized the complete disrespect I have had for the rentals we have had, sad really.

In the four years we have lived in our current home I haven't done much to change the house. The first project would have been painting the girls room (a delicate purple) , which my wife had to prod me along to do. The second project was taping, mudding and painting two walls in our basement (which would eventually become our bedroom). Even those jobs were within the last year and a half.

Earlier this summer was when we first started to think that it might actually be possible to become homeowners. You have to understand where I came from to understand why this seemed like such an impossible dream.

Almost exactly one year ago I closed my business, which really was supposed to be my families future. Five years I worked away at it hoping that this was going to be the year things turned around and the money would start flowing. The only thing that I really accomplished was to get the business to a point that it could sustain itself, but that was only happened in the final two years. The first three years I racked up such a huge debt that that getting the business to sustain itself was really only one step forward when I had already traveled back a hundred. At the time, closing the doors looked like it would be the start of a many year journey just to get back to where I started.

When I look back on the whole thing now and see the huge blessings that God has brought us, it is easy to see all the signs that God kept showing me that it was time to close the doors. I now know it was my pride, laziness and my lack of courage that kept me in chains, when I thought I was in freedom.

In the last year God has brought prosperity to my family, and for the first time I see a bright financial future for my family. God has also given me a confidence that I have never had. A confidence that I am worth a decent wage as I have skills that are valuable to a employer, and a confidence that because of the way God wired me I can fix, build and create.

Earlier this summer we refinished our deck, a couple days ago I repaired and repainted a wall in our kitchen, yesterday I painted a bench for our kitchen. Today I installed a portable dishwasher into our kitchen cupboards, did the plumbing and everything. I never would have considered doing any of these things before becoming a homeowner.

Basement will start soon.