Hope for Home: 3 Opportunities for the Mama Living in a Fixer-Upper
It was a cold spring morning when my husband, two toddlers, and I stepped into our new fixer-upper home.
We were greeted by a cracked foyer mirror, outdated green carpet, yellow and red walls, water-damaged and moldy flooring, broken windows, no working appliances, sagging ceilings, scuff marks on the walls, a pink bathtub with carpeted bathroom floors, peeling wallpaper, scratched cabinets and stained countertops, missing light fixtures, animal feces in the master bedroom, and the scent of animal urine throughout the whole house.
As I looked around with a notepad, cataloging fixes and taking measurements (while warning my kids to quit running through the house), the excitement from the previous day quickly changed to overwhelm.
Fast-forward eighteen months and one baby later, I now stare at a bright, modern kitchen; clean hardwood floors; energy-efficient windows; neutral paint colors; and brand-new appliances and bathroom vanities. We still have a room or two (or three) that need our time and attention, but I can’t help but pause for a moment to ponder God’s goodness to us during this journey of home renovation. Here are three things God has taught me along the way, for the mama who also finds herself in a fixer-upper:
1. Prayer
In Philippians 4:5-7, we are commanded to pray about everything that makes us anxious. With a home renovation, worry and stress often come with the territory. While my husband channeled his inner Chip Gaines to demo and gut our house for a few weeks, my daughters and I lived with my parents thirty minutes away. He was in the trenches of dust, debris, and darkness, but I had plenty of time (and nervous energy) to pray about contractors, deliveries, and delays as we waited for the fixes to be sufficient for us all to live in the house. I made a prayer card and line-itemed our requests like a checklist:
Our bathroom contractor’s truck stopped working when we needed working toilets and showers ASAP.
Our drywall contractor got injured the night before he was scheduled to finish the family room.
Our carpet contractor’s phone and truck were stolen and he was unreachable for twenty-four hours the day before he was scheduled to install.
The morning our hardwood flooring was scheduled to be installed, the installation specialist’s delivery van wouldn’t start.
Time and time again, our hearts pressed into prayer as the issues pressed in on us. We were aching for a livable home situation, but our fallen, broken world continued to creep in and get in the way of that. But God was—and is—faithful to hear our every prayer when we cry to him for help. And he is able to do far more than we ever could, so let’s take him at his word and invite him into our story.[1] With the psalmist, we can say, “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works” (Psalm 73:28).
2. Patience
Once we finally moved in, walking around our home was a constant test of patience for me. When will our new countertops be in so I don’t have to look at these ancient food stains? When will these obnoxiously colored walls be repainted so I don’t have to feel embarrassed when people stop by? And later—When will this morning sickness lift so I can have the energy to pick up a paintbrush? Will all of this be done by the time baby arrives in nine months? My questions were reasonable, but my flesh often wasn’t, as my husband and children can attest.
Living in a home renovation did, and still does, expose my need for heart renovation from the ultimate Carpenter. Like David, I must cry out daily, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10)! Jesus Christ’s ability to create, cleanse, and renew is what we need more than anything. Crown molding will come, but what about the heavenly crown that I aim to adorn by his grace as I choose obedience over sin? What about the molding of my heart into his? The physical aspects of a fixer-upper point us again and again to our eternal need for Someone who can do what we can’t: fix ourselves.
3. Perspective
One of the most glorious opportunities of living in a fixer-upper is getting glimpses of redemption. We see something look bad one day and beautiful the next. We see something not work right and then get repaired. We see a complete mess of chaos slowly turned to order. The privilege that God gives us as image bearers to take part in creating, recreating, and restoring reminds me of the greater story I don’t want to lose sight of, even when we consider our home reno “done.”
This is not my ultimate home—I will still be waiting for itwhen that last panel of shiplap is stapled. My true home is in heaven,[2] and that’s where my hope rests. One day, Jesus will come back and restore this crooked and broken dwelling placeinto a perfect one.[3] But in the meantime, he is so gracious to meet us in our needs in this imperfect one.
[1] Ephesians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
[2] Philippians 3:20-21
[3] Revelation 21:3-5
