"This Old House"

It feels funny calling a 40 year old house, old, but it is. It just isn't as old as some. But it is is a house that has not had a lot updated to it over the years. The last owners, moved out and let their adult daughter and her husband move in to rent it and keep it up. That didn't work for a variety of reasons. The carpet was the original carpet and so has to be replaced. The first place Bob did that was in the room we made into an office. The daughter had cats, and they put the kitty litter box in this room on the carpet. Okay you get the idea. He ripped it out immediately on moving in. Laid down laminated flooring. Really looks better. So now we are slowly taking out the carpet and putting down new flooring.
The next room to get worked on was the family room. It had dark wood paneling, and yes the old carpet with multiple stains. Bob and I chose some colors to lighten it up. I didn't want to go with just cream or white or tan, so used a color called Shrimp toast from Lowes. It is very nice and has added color and lightness to the room.
Did I mention the old wallpaper from forty years ago? We are taking the wall paper down also and repainting the walls. The next room we are going after is the kitchen. The cabinets, flooring is dark. The walls had this colorful wall paper, and some tiles over by the sink. Bob and I are trying to decide on a color to use. They had bright orange and green and yellow, a bit overbearing. Bob wants to go with yellow, I am not sure what color I want.
Bob is very happy doing this, it has given him great sense of accomplishment.
Why didn't we just buy a newly built house? Cost, and size. I liked them, but they cost too much and didn't have the room we felt we needed for the three kids. This house had the rooms and the right price. Plus Bob can be Bob the Builder!

All this remodeling reminds me of my own life. If I let myself go physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally then I will be in the shape of this house, in much need of repair and updating. And I have to be honest, I haven't kept myself up as well physically as I need to. I am back walking regualarly and eating healthier, and I can tell the difference. I am hoping this will lead me to even more care for my body and health. And what about mentally, have I kept myself up mentally with reading, study, discussions, listening and learning? If not I need to assess this and shore up where I am weak. I am trying to learn how to minister to and with young adults. And what about emotionally, have I paid attention to my emotional health? I have had to work a long time and a hard time on this area, and continue to work on my emotional health. Although I tend to neglect myself when stressed, and right now I am going through a stressful transition. And what about spiritually, have I paid attention to and maintained my spiritual life? They say that Pastors are the worse at doing this. To be honest there have been times in my life when I have neglected this area of my life, and there have been other times I have spent lots of time. I know with this transition, that I cannot neglect my spiritual life, I need to be intentional about my quiet time with the Lord, prayer and meditation. This is a busy church and position and I could easily get caught up in it.
All these areas are interconnected to make for a healthy self a whole self. One affects the other. I don't want to end up like this old house, in much need of repair. So I need to attend to all the areas of my life. The good thing about this old house is that it has a good foundation, good structure, and a good roof. My life has these too, and it makes for easier repairs and daily attention to those areas of my life. How about you?