Category Archives: Basement

Every night…

Posted in Basement, Deep Thoughts by

Every night they come. One by one. Hands full of tools. Full of supplies. Faces covered in smiles. Kind greetings on their lips. They come to work. Night after night.

Every night they leave their families. Their homes. Their responsibilities. To come here. To my house. Their families sending them off with their blessing. No thought to the sacrifices they’re making.

Every night is a new crew. No crew has been the same. Oh I see the same faces over and over, but the combination is always different, always a surprise.

Every night I hear them greet one another with joy; as if they haven’t seen each another in weeks rather than just days, or even hours. It’s a party! These guys enjoy one another’s company. They enjoy what they are doing.

Every night the laughter bubbles up through the floor. It’s contagious. Sometimes it’s giggles or chuckles. But mostly it’s full-on belly laughs. The sound of it is beautiful.

Every night they they work. Hard. They hammer things. They saw things. They paint walls. They use the gifts that God has given them. The talents. The time. They energy. They give out of the abundance of their hearts.

Every night they build my nest. They ask for my preferences. I answer their questions. I offer suggestions. They’re happy to oblige.

Every night I pay them with brownies, cookies, cupcakes, or other sweets. It’s all I have to give. There simply aren’t enough brownies, cookies, or cupcakes in all the world to adequately convey how deep my gratitude runs.

Every night they bring hearts overflowing with their offering. An offering to Him. For His glory. But first, their offering flows through my house. It floods my basement. It floods my heart.

Every night, when all is quiet, I go downstairs. I see their work. I marvel at their efficiency. I’m humbled by their dedication. I’m left speechless.

Every night my heart overflows in praise and thanks to Him. That He would bless me so abundantly.  And in such an incredibly tangible way. This is the visible evidence that He loves me. That He cares about me. That He hears me.

Every night they sow seeds. They work the soil of their own blessing. They water their dreams. They work confident  in the knowledge that God loves them. He cares about them. He hears them.

Every night God loves you. He cares about you. He hears you. If He will do this for me, what more will He do for you?

{insert clever title here}

Posted in Basement, Uncategorized by

You know that feeling you get when you are so tired you feel like you are going to fall asleep if you blink too long?

Yea.

That’s how I feel right now.

A recap of days four and five is coming tomorrow or the day after. It’s too much to do right now, but I will say this much… It is incredible to see the transformation from day to day. Every morning after breakfast I take the kids down to see what was done the night before. I’m amazed at it all myself, but to see it through their eyes is precious!

Tonight Doug (the man with the plan) asked me what I thought. I looked around searching for the adequate words to describe what I was thinking. I was speechless.

When he came a few months ago and put five, FIVE, just FIVE outlets in our basement (we had one previously) I cried. Over five outlets. I reminded him of this and said, “how do you think I feel about all this?” He got it.

 This is the crew from last night. From L to R… My Music Man, Paul M., Michael, Doug, Rodney, Paul F., Jefe, Ewing (back), Dougie (front), and Jerry.

These guys are awesome and I owe them a debt of gratitude. However ALL glory and praise goes to God. HE is the reason this is happening. I am ever mindful of that.

To God be the glory.

GREAT things He has done!

I feel the earth move under my feet…

Posted in Basement, The Ball Room Academy by

It amazes me to see a long-prayed/hoped for dream materialize before my very eyes.  Five or six years ago I joked about the guys of our church finishing our basement. And now it’s actually happening. Over the weekend a few hard-working men cleared the basement, framed not one, not two, but THREE new rooms in my basement. They’re like those little worker ants who band together and totally demolish a gigantic log in a matter of hours. Or something…

Here’s a bit of a recap. This is more for me and my full-hand family than anything. I want to remember all the fun little details of this process so I understand if you just skim the written word and peruse the pictures.

Day 1: I was so caught up in the activity of clearing the basement that I completely forgot to take any pictures. Needless to say,I was completely bummed when I realized it! (Side note: Apparently I was so caught up in the festivities that I also forgot to take The Girl to dance. Nice. Mother-of-the-Year. Thankyouverymuch.) After the kids went to bed and The Music Man collapsed on the couch, I made more cookies. The Girl couldn’t sleep so she ended up helping me make the red velvet cupcakes too.  What?! Men need sweets to maintain their energy and momentum.

We also went downstairs to document the end of Day 1. I’m calling these pictures the Empty Befores.

Muchas gracias to The Music Man, Doug, Rodney, Jerry, Ewing, Michael, and who could forget Jefe (aka Jeff).

Day 2: If I heard it once I heard it a thousand times. “Mommy. I kinna wanna go downstairs wis all da worka guys. Please cannI?” My boy. He struggled with having to stay upstairs “wis da girls” when he knew the guys were hard at work below. He wanted so badly to be one of the guys and help. It was sweet and endearing the first forty seven times. Time forty eight and beyond was just annoying.  Cute, but annoying. My little boy loves to be a “workah guy.”

Now for the pictorial documentation… All of this was done by three or four guys in just a few hours.

Life goes on, so after the guys cleared out on Saturday I started a load of laundry. My boy needed clean underwear and all. It’s weird because I’ve wished and waited for years to do a load of laundry IN a laundry room and now I finally am. It’s wonderful but so surreal at the same time. I even pretended to turn off the light and shut the door before I came upstairs just to see what it will be like in just a few days.

My grateful heart overflows…Thanks to The Music Man, Doug, Rodney, and Jefe.

Day 3: The pounding, POUNDING, POUNDING was beginning to get to me (twitch twitch). It was making naps virtually impossible.  So I did what any sensible mom would do: pack the kids up and go get half-price happy hour frappuccinos at Starbucks for everyone.  Kids napped and mommy listened to some radio station that was only playing one hit wonders. I think this goes without saying, but it was wonderful.

As for the progress downstairs, the playroom is completely framed in. The family/school room is almost done too. They ran out of 2x4s again, but all that’s left is a little closet to frame in.  Next up is to electrify the place. Woo hoo.

Thanks again to The Music Man, Doug, Jerry, and Paul.

You guys NAILED IT!

Literally!

(Bahaha!!!)

Ok, I’m done.

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You have to admit, that was pretty funny.