5-Minute Fridays - 5 Years Ago

Five years ago, our kitchen/family room/dining area/living room looked like this - CRAZY MAKING. And it looked like some version of this for almost a year. We cooked, ate and lived in the back bedroom and bathroom.

But that difficult year quickly disappeared from memory as the new space began to appear. Part of it shows in the picture below - bright, cheery colors, new appliances, new window seat, fun living and gathering space.

But the real joy of this space is perhaps more perfectly shown in this picture - celebrating our eldest grandson's 19th birthday last year. The 'joys' of remodeling are nicely replaced with the true joys of family life.

Five years ago, the bigger of these two precious girls was a newborn (as was her equally fabulous male cousin). And the littlest one wasn't even on the horizon. How quickly things change, how blessed we are in most of those changes.

But five years ago, we still had our son-in-law with us. Five years ago, we still had my youngest brother with us. Five years ago, my husband did not have prostate cancer. Five years ago, I had no major health issues. Five years ago, I was working as a pastor, a ministry I loved and was called into. Five years ago, life was different in some much-missed ways, too. Thankfully, during each of those 5 years - and every event in them, both large and small - God showed up. Not always in the way I might have imagined, not always in the way I would have chosen - but God showed up. So, overall - I stand at this end of those 5 years and say, "Thank you." Thank you for presence, thank you for promise, thank you for lives - as well as houses! - remade.