10 Lessons I’m Learning from this House

I thought about titling this post “10 Lessons I’ve Learned” but that wouldn’t be accurate. That’d imply that I’ve checked them off like a to-do list but the truth is, these are things I continually remind myself of every day.

So without further ado, here’s what I’ve been learning:

#1 Good things take (a lot) of time. I used to jump into projects with all the novelty and excitement needed to propel me forward. Well, that eventually wears off and pure, hard work takes its place followed by a healthy dose of patience. And from experience now, I realize each project we’ve worked on has taken about 4x the amount of effort, materials and time than I originally thought. It also means giving up fun things like weekend trips and Christmas vacations all in exchange for getting a little bit further ahead than we were the day before.

#2 Face fear with faith. I will share a little secret with you. . .My biggest fear moving into this house wasn’t the cracking plaster walls or chipmunks in the attic. It was the eerie, “I feel like I’m being watched” vibe that I got from the house since I was a little kid. All those old haunted places you see on TV where ghost hunters are communing with the dead? Yeah, that was where my mind was during those first nights actually sleeping in the house. To help find some comfort, especially while being here alone, I began relying on my faith to bring me a sense of peace. I’d listen to sermons and uplifting music that took the ‘scary’ out of the atmosphere. And you know what? It worked. I’ve found that my God is bigger than any fear I have.

#3 More hands make for lighter work. I don’t like to ask for help. I feel uncomfortable with “putting people out” when I’m sure they have a million things of their own to do. But, working on this house has shown me just how valuable an extra set of hands can be. My thankfulness goes out to all the hands that have helped Gavin and I along this journey.

#4 Each season has its own joys & challenges. Our dream is to be a self-sufficient homestead. While we’re not there yet, we’re a little further along than we were last year when we moved in. This summer we grew tomatoes, eggplant, sweet potatoes, peppers and a variety of herbs by container gardening. (We had a total of 113 pots including flowers, succulents, etc.) This summer also involved lots of tree work. We dropped five large pines in the front yard & with that came all of the clean-up. Now heading into fall, Gavin & his friend Homero have worked to clear around the pond while the water is low and we’ve gotten a few pallets of wood ready for the winter. The changing seasons are teaching me what to focus on during that particular time of year and what to prepare for in the months to come.

#5 Push past perceived limitations. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There are things that need done everywhere you look. And at the start of any major project, I wonder to myself how it’s really going to get accomplished. Little by little, it does though but not without going past the point of wanting to hang it up. Gavin has taught me this well. Just when I want to call it a night, he trudges on. I look back hours later then and realize that I had more in me than I thought. It’s not easy, but we’ve gotten so much more ahead by putting in those extra hours when we didn’t feel like it.

#6 Fulfillment is found in giving, not getting. One of my biggest joys in life now is being able to donate items to those that sincerely need it. Just recently while cleaning out the pavilion, I came across tons of white plates and dishware. I made a call to a local domestic violence shelter to find out if they accepted those items. It turns out they did, and after two car loads full with the help of my mom, we got them dropped off. The receptionist told us it was the best donation they’d ever received.

I’ve seen the affects of what buying more and more stuff can do and it’s made me think differently about material possessions. Simply put: Things can’t make you happy. Joy is found in giving.

#7 People won’t fully grasp the work involved in a project and that’s okay. I love to show people everything we’ve been working on in and around the house. And the responses are all positive but it’s hard to make someone see just how many hours went into something. They might look at the gutted bathroom and see a mess, but I see all of the long nights that were spent hauling glass block out one wheelbarrow at a time or the insane amount of raccoon feces we shoveled just to see the cement floor of the garage. People won’t know exactly what it took to get there unless they’ve experienced it first-hand. That’s life.

#8 Take a breather when necessary. Sometimes it all feels too much and I want to throw my hands in the air and give up. That’s when I know I need to step away for awhile and do something different. For me, that looks like coming back to my writing, sitting in nature, reading books and drinking tea.

#9 Embrace the chaos. This has been a huge adjustment for me. I find peace and calmness in an organized space. I’ll clean and clean and clean only to have the house be decimated again on the next go around of projects. It’s frustrating, but that’s something I’m learning to live with seeing that this pattern will continue on for the foreseeable future. So, I’m working on embracing the disaster zones, reminding myself that we won’t always have to shower in flip flops or have backpack blowers in the dining room. We’ll look back on these moments as the good old days, right?

#10 There are no short-cuts, only more concise ways of doing things. I admit I try to get the job done as quickly as possible, especially if it’s 10:30 pm and I want to go to bed. “Why don’t you just leave it like that?” I suggest, “It’s fine, come onnnn.” Of which Gavin always responds, “Are you kidding? we have to finish this! TONIGHT!” Whenever I’ve tried to take short cuts, it always ends up being a bigger ordeal than it would have been if I’d just done it right the first time. So, lesson being – think of the best way to do something and just do it.

I’m sure there’s lots of other things I’ve learned that didn’t make the list. (like how to wrap Teflon tape around plumbing threads or the best method of hauling a heap load of branches down the road) but I digress. I’m thankful for this house and this life and all the lessons I’m learning along the way.

What is life teaching you? Leave a comment below of something you’re currently in the process of learning. <3