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“This Old House” and “Staying in Love”

Stacie Hollingsworth, one of our own at Church at the Grove wrote this and it fits perfect with our marriage series “Staying in Love” 

This Old House
 
Hebrews 10:35-36
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
 
This past Saturday morning I was sitting in the den with my husband drinking my coffee and watching This Old House.  As I watched they discussed all the plans for restoring a home in Roxbury, Boston, they showed the house in its current state which was terrible, it looked as if it had caught on fire at some point and had clearly been abandoned for quite a while as the windows and doors were all boarded up.  The drawings looked awesome, I was anxious to see how in the world they were going to make this dilapidated old house new again.  Norm Abrams is like a magician where these things are concerned!!!   As the show went on they talked about how they had to pour new footings and how the foundation was going to have to be re poured, they were putting up supports so that the floor joists wouldn’t collapse when they removed the old foundation and poured the new one.  There was all sorts of stuff that I didn’t exactly understand going on and quite frankly the house still looked terrible!  I finally looked at my husband and said “at this point I think I would just say forget it and go buy a whole new house!”  You see, I am more of an HGTV girl.  I like to repaint, buy some new accessories and voila a pretty new room!
 
At my church we have been doing a series on “Staying in Love” and as the day wore on I thought about that statement and I started thinking about my own marriage, and about friends that we have that are struggling.  My heart ached for them and I felt the need to thank God for the fact that in my own marriage He was our “Norm”, He was willing to put in the effort to rebuild our foundation, He was willing to work a miracle in our marriage and restore it.  You see when I look at my husband today, I see an amazing, Godly man, he is strong, smart handsome, caring, loving.  We have a wonderful relationship and I can’t imagine my life without him.  Not all that long ago though I didn’t see any of that, my marriage was that sad broken down house that needed more work than I could do but God was ready and able to restore us.  When I look at our marriage today I see something close to that artists rendering that they showed at the beginning of the show.  It is new and beautiful but it still has the character that you only see in and old restored home.  I know that we still have to do the work that it takes s to keep up our marriage.  Just like an old  home, once that home has been restored, there will be cracks in the plaster that must be repaired, eventually they will have to put on a new roof or repaint, having a beautiful home takes work but it is worth it.  In my marriage I have to keep my selfishness in check, I have to put Lee’s needs/feelings before mine.  I have to choose to hear his side rather than shouting mine.  I have to over look his faults and remind myself of my own sometimes.  I have to forgive as I have been forgiven even when Lee is wrong and some Saturday mornings I have to watch This Old House instead of HGTV.  You see having a good marriage takes hard work and sacrifice too but the rewards amazing!
 
I thank God that He restores what everyone else has given up on, that He specialized in resurrecting that which was dead!  If you are struggling in your marriage you have the very creator of marriage on your side, God sees what is possible if you will just submit to Him and allow Him to work with and through you.  Trust Him, after all, He is the expert!