The Messy, Slow, Honest Middle

Before and After's are cool, but I'm here for the messy, slow, honest middle. 

Social media has taught us to expect quick fixes, filtered results, and picture perfect everything with minimal or invisible effort or hardship. Renovation TV would have us believe that in 27 minutes a home can be transformed. I know it's entertaining and mindless scrolling can be cathartic, but I worry that it's doing more damage to our hearts and psyche. It's simply not real life! I've always felt this, but the renovation is highlighting the sentiment in a new way. The messy, slow, honest middle is 99% of life and not only has it's place, but should be seen as beautiful.

This renovation will take close to a year and it's taken a decade of saving to get here. We're blessed with an amazing contractor who works hard and puts in full days, so it does feel in some ways like it's flying, but the reality is that we'll be in this stage of waiting for many many months. And prior to this work, we've dreamed of this home for years! Brad turns 40 this year and it will be the first time in 20 years of working from home that he'll have a private office (with an actual door!). Our three kids will have shared one bedroom for 11 years by the time we move into this larger home. Eleven years, and beautiful ones. 

The years we spent dreaming and waiting and learning to be content in our circumstances weren't wasted or to be wished away. They made us. I pray we never forget the lessons from those years, and don't waste the ones in the months to come.

Here's to patience, contentment and diligence in the not yet.