Merci Beaucoup
/Thanks-for-giving
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
It was "goodbye Summer - hello Fall" and "make my renovation list as painless as possible" season on This Side of Paris. If you were ever involved in any home renovation project, you know it goes beyond the walls of your house and into the walls of your character. The process will soon uncover the hidden truth of what makes something stable and the naked truth about things that are barely hinged.
The summer months gave us ideal weather to shape the land that surrounds the house. The garden beds are the garlands around the place that beckon an inviting entrance. A curb appeal is a silent whisper to convince you to stay a bit longer.
Days of weeding and scraping the topsoil have convinced me that no matter how much we believe we have removed all the unsightly weeds off the garden beds and pathways, the soil holds the DNA of all sorts of growth. We must daily make time to uproot these things that hinder their intended purpose. The truth about weeds in our lives is that they creep up seemingly unnoticed if we neglect attitude maintenance.
The weekend trips to This Side of Paris allowed us to redo the ancient deck and salvage perfectly good timber on the property for a table and benches fit for a king. Having beautiful, purposeful things doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag. It is the creativity and determination that adds value to things around you.
We celebrate every carpenter's sawdust glitter that clouded our sight in the process of tackling the giants in the land. We have experienced that when the dust settles, we are a bit more in the know of what works and what doesn't.
We are grateful for friends who invested time in sharing their weekend with us to till the ground. Our hearts are more tender to recite words of awe and give thanks to our maker who knows all of our strengths and weaknesses. Apart from Him, we can do nothing worth speaking.
"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations."
Merci Beaucoup
