Have you ever prayed and asked the Lord for something, only to be brought to tears as His answer keeps coming and coming and coming? Rip and I have prayed and asked the Lord for something very specific and last night, as we sat in Captain D’s at 9:00 eating supper, (starving like nobody’s business), before we took a bite Rip reached over and grabbed my hand … my pruned and clorox-smelling hand, and prayed, “Father, thank You. Thank You for how You are answering our prayers. And thank You that You’ve made us just alike, to love this stuff that You keep bringing to us to do together for other families and their homes. We love it, and we love You,” (insert tears…mine)
There I sat, covered from head to toe in dirt, wet from overspray, a little chilled because of sitting in a restaurant that had the AC turned way down, and my Farm Bureau hat on tight! And then there was my husband … drenched and dirty, but with a smile on his face like I’ve never seen, taking my hand and praising God for what we just got to do together for someone else.
I’m telling you…living the life of “giving” to others is THE ONLY life for a Christian. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is give money, and that is so important, too. It shows our freedom to trust God in all things. But when we become givers of our time, our energies, our strength, our skills and abilities, when we are cheerful givers in ways that require sacrifice and elbow grease, well, I do believe we begin to experience a “fullness” that only comes by the way of selfless living … finding pure joy in serving others in how we have been made capable.
(Hold on to that word, “Capable”….we are going to visit that word in my next bible study. But it’s quite power-packed in God’s Word.)
When Rip came home from a full days work at Kroger at 4:15, he walked in the house limping. (As some of you know, my dear Rip is severely bowlegged. After an X-ray, the doctor showed us his knees are literally bone against bone…yet, he hardly slows down.) But after the hard day he had at Kroger, he literally came in the door smiling, walking with a broken stride, but smiling … because he knew what we were fixin’ to do together. (Bless my soul!)
He hurried and changed into his “other” work clothes, (usually grungy shorts and a T-shirt), popped to Tylenol, and out the door we went to pressure wash a client’s home. There is so much she’d like done inside and outside her house, and this is one of the items that needed to be done quickly because it was only getting worse.
So, after swinging by Home Depot to purchase a 20 foot extension for our pressure washer, we got to her house at 5:45, and by 8:45, the job was done! We started on the North side of the house, and first sprayed a clorox/water mixture over the entire side of the house. As the mixture sat there working to break up the mildew, I moved to the back of the house to pressure wash the patio and sitting platform. The round attachment I’m using on the patio really speeds up the job because it covers such a wider area. I cloroxed the sitting platform walls and flooring, then came back with the pressure washer and made that entire concrete look fresh and clean.
Then, it was back to the side of the house….together, we got her home looking like new! When I told Rip to pose for the pic, he raised his hands high & opened his arms so wide … and all I could see was a humble, happy and hard-working servant of the Lord!!
And we both were loving every minute of it!
We got in the truck wet, dirty, and holding hands.
But it was Rip’s Captian D’s prayer….the prayer of sincere gratitude that got us both. We sat there feeling filthy yet favored. Thankful for the favor of our God Who makes us capable to serve Him in serving others. Now that’s a “happy” from heaven!!
All we can do is praise the Lord for growing our Interior Inspirations business as He is doing! The interior and the exterior of people’s home and home lives are getting “purified” and “beautified” in so many ways…and THAT’S what motivates us to design, decorate, and declutter people’s homes, day-timers, and personal spaces.
If you want Rip and I to come out to your home, first contact us for a consultation through this website. Email address is under the contact info. Our scheduling is around 2 weeks out, so as soon as you’d like for us to come, we will get you on our schedule as quickly as possible. The consultations are usually within 1-2 days of your initial contact.
We are here to serve you and your family have the “Home Sweet Home” you desire!
Hope to hear from you soon, …and if you live out of town, we will either come to you, or we can Skype or FaceTime. It works as a great way to help you instantly! 🙂
Happy Homemaking,
lisa
God bless you two!