in progress

7.09.2013

there is a wildfire nearby. the smoke tinting our sunrises and sunsets with a unique hue. lots of pinks and purples, sometimes bright sometimes pastel.

denver went outside to capture a few photos of the smokey evening sky, i went along but got distracted by our forlorn airstream battling the encroaching weeds for driveway space. the airstream project has been on a standstill since we bought the new house. full of random odds and ends that we couldn't find a place for in the move, license plate hanging upside down, paint faded, patches of new aluminum glowing against the old.

joining the ranks of a work-in-progress our new house stands just as tattered (and has also been on standstill for the last three weeks while denver has been remodeling a condo on the other side of town). i think you've all seen pictures of the new house when we first moved in. Now it only looks worse with patches of tyvek, boarded over windows and partially removed decks. the whole set-up makes me want to duck my head in shame each time i pull into the driveway and discontentment rears up its joy-stealing head.

the fact is, the girl who has difficulty seeing the value in process married the guy who loves a good project. bam. God knew he would have a chance to do a little heart work.

i spent the last remodel disgruntled and longing for the finished product. only to realize that the satisfaction of a job-well done lasted about two days before discontentment returned, leaving me wishing for something new. 

i've realized that i treat life with the same approach that i've treated these remodels, constantly looking to the future as the end goal. chaffing at the day to day instead of realizing that life is the day to day. life is all about process and until i learn to enjoy that process i'm going to be settling for about 2% enjoyment and 98% discontentment. 

i'm ready to see the sky in all it's glory, 
pull into the driveway and just feel thankful for a place to call home.




6 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. I love this. And I love you!

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  2. Good word. I too tend to be more focused on the result rather than the process. It's easy to forget the very essence of life itself is in the day to day living that we do from sunup to sundown. When I forget this, I always think about that bit from Screwtape where he says that Satan's favorite place for us to be is in the future because it is the most intangible reality of the three time frames that are available to our mind. The present is where we belong and the only place we can be of any use to our King. Thanks for the reminder!

    I also read this to Stephen and he heartily approved :-)

    -Hannah

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  3. Wonderful and well-said. The present is a beautiful thing. :)

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  4. you have no idea how much it means to get a stamp of approval from the best writer i know. thanks dani!

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