REstore

before and afters are my favorites. i love to see restoration in tangible concrete ways. i love the idea of taking something that is so-so and making it fabulous. even in doing this with furniture and design, i always see how parallel the work of the heart is the same way....







we recently redid our kitchen cabinets. they were originally a little dull, yellowish oak and like the rest of the other 400 houses in this neighborhood.

i loved the idea of clean, fresh, crisp white. soothing and simple.

it was a long process. one that started with the top cabinets getting done and ian and i looking at each other and saying, "let's take a break for a while..." which ironically lasted months and months. and more months. of a break. "two tone cabinets are in aren't they?" ian would say....never finished. always waiting for completion....

we are looking for a bigger house for our new addition as we pursue adoption. this little two bedroom house has been so sweet to us, we love it. if we had just one more bedroom, we'd probably try and make it work. but we know we are called to bring another little one into our family, more down the road even possibly...so we just need more room.

this moving idea has spurred us on to finish the cabinets. and we did so this weekend. three pain-filled, sleepless night-long day-painting while kids fight in the background and nourish themselves on cheerios out of the box and two year olds try to run away with sharp screwdrivers and play in the paint can-kind of weekend....the kitchen is finally done, the cabinets are finished! and i love them. i am sad to not be able to live with them forever...but i have to tell you that i prayed for the sweet family who will after us. with each stroke and screw and spill ;), i kept thinking about restoration and how much He has done in our lives since we lost our baby girl. how much HE has brought us out of, delivered us from and continues to teach us in it.....a new coat of paint in humilty and healing. a fresh clean new idea regarding adoption. a brand new "look" as we become "those" who minister to others now in their grief, after dealing with ours....HE does make all things new. it takes a lot of work. a lot of blood, sweat and tears. and believe me, these cabinets even have those too.










restoration at the moment can be painful, down right long suffering pain and uncomfortable. a dog tired-aching bone kind of feeling...

but the after? oh the after....whether it's an old dresser from the 70's, new kitchen cabinets or a new heart, most especially a new heart...it's a sweet production that culminates into a vision, a fabulous vision, that for even one second, you forget all the toil and pain it took you to get to where you are now....such grace.