Maintenance

With the recent onset of the North Florida monsoons, life in our backyard has become a little rough. We have had somewhat of a small river flowing under our house eating away at the dirt as it goes through. No serious damage has happened yet, but we were forced to figure out a way to redirect the water past the end of the house. David had some old cross ties that we used to create a new drainage path for the water and I helped him place them in an aesthetically pleasing manner. I now have a very large space that I am in the process of converting into a flowerbed.

Most of you who know me know that I’m not much of a landscaper, but I’ve really been trying lately. I have successfully maintained a small flowerbed for an entire year on the side of the house and it actually looks nice, so maybe there is some hope. I have always loved flowers, but never had the follow-through to keep them alive. So I’ve come up with a new theory that seems to really help my cause. We have a contract with the county and they bring out all of their yard trash for David to chip into mulch. Sometimes flowers and shrubs that others discarded survive and begin growing in the trash piles. I figure if they are hearty enough to survive out there with no human help, then there’s a really good chance that they will survive the black thumb of Christy Adams! I’ve scouted out some lilies and a pretty bunch of yellow flowers that I will be transplanting this week into my new beds. Mom came out and helped dig some other lilies from our neighbor’s house today. I got those in the ground tonight. It’s definitely a good start.

It feels really good to take care of our home. When we first moved in 8 years ago, our plan was to build a house right behind our trailer. This is still our plan, but we have had to put it on hold a little while. Our trailer has always seemed like a temporary place and I never made the effort to really make it home. The more effort we put into maintaining and beautifying our home, the better I feel about living here. I feel settled and comfortable, not like a transient.

The crazy thing, too, is that the more we maintain our home, the more I want to improve other areas. I want to work harder at keeping the inside clean. I want to build different items to place in the various rooms in our home. But even beyond the physical, it makes me want to better myself. It goes back to the concept that when you learn how to be consistent in one area, then consistency in other areas is just a natural flow.

And the more we do, the more there is to do! Sounds a lot like the Christian life if you ask me! The harder we seek, the more we find. The deeper we dig, the more we learn. The harder we chase Christ, the more lessons we get to face. But it all comes down to maintenance. We have to consistently maintain our homes just as we have to maintain our relationship with Christ. There has to be effort and it needs to be purposeful.

Take time this week to work on being consistent. Maintaining our homes is important, but maintaining our spiritual lives it critical!