This may be, by the way, a new personal record in length of time since last email update. I don't think they give any awards for that :-)
Our daughter Sarah is scheduled to marry John Forcey June 28 here in Colorado Springs. They're here already, getting ready and helping us get ready. The subject line has nothing to do with them.
What is outside the lines, at least for me, is that I just got a final building inspection on our basement finishing project. Ironically, this 1000 square feet is only slightly smaller than the 1200 square feet we lived in the 15 years we were in Taiwan! Of course, we did have both a storage room and a parking space in addition to the apartment. Here we just have a two car garage and more parking than we've ever used on the street outside. Basements in Colorado are unlike basements anywhere else we've lived in that they are actually very livable space (when finished) due to the extremely dry climate and, in our case, the sixty or so feet of sand we live on.
I haven't ever done a physical project of this size, and certainly didn't make time for such projects during our years in Taiwan. And it has stretched us. There were times when I was on a conference call while friends were working in the basement, when I hung up on my supervisor to let a building inspector in the house, and nine months (and still counting) when the six feet behind our bed in the master bedroom are stacked floor to ceiling with things that (once) lived in the basement. Our house is still full of "early matrimonial" and "lately garage (sale)" furnishings. We remain fairly content all the same, though we have our bouts with materialism fortunately seldom both at the same time!
There have been lessons learned. Among them, ...
--I would have a much more worn out body if I'd been doing construction for my whole adult life.
--Men you get to know doing construction are a different group as a whole than the ones I run into in my "day job."
--I've run into low self-esteem, traumatic stress, terminal illness, divorce, financial pain, and cancer just in the basement. I've also had people walk with me I would otherwise have almost totally missed. (This part is not a lot different than international ministry, but it amazed me the people who came into my life in a project that had "nothing to do with" ministry, but as many of you already knew, it did and does.)
Here's one more lesson that I keep thinking about--life isn't perfect, but it's still possible to continue. I am an idealist (polite word for perfectionist, day dreamer, and several others I won't put here.) The basement is anything but. Every job and every workman made mistakes, big or small, paid or volunteer, me or not me. Getting the basement finished required making imperfect decisions, choices that didn't stick, redoing some things and living with others, and getting up the next day to do more of all that. In my mind, this became a perfect metaphor for life at 57.
Funny thing, in spite of all that, the last inspector told me, "You did a good job." (Just last Friday he told me to change something!) Then he told me that he had actually been the supervisor for constructing several of the homes around me, before the money ran out and the project collapsed. And good people are still living in those homes, even though they weren't perfect and the builder went out of business. My take away--it is possible to do a good job and enjoy life even when everybody makes mistakes.
So rejoice with me! Now I can stop thinking about building codes and just look at Laura's "to do" list for a while. The project is not finished, but it has still been judged complete and up to code (and, yes, I had several repeat visits from inspectors that just didn't find one visit enough to satisfy, as well as some grace for a humble homeowner who has not a license of any sort.)
Did I mention that a wedding is coming? Our speaker Sunday said the reason we "make them say all those vows" is because we know what's ahead. I suppose that's the thinking behind building codes, too, though I have had occasion to wonder. May you have grace for today, mercy especially when you don't know you need it, and the courage to continue, even when your personal preferences get knocked around a bit or more than a bit.
In him who keeps us, even if we have a somewhat finished basement, Steve and Laura
PS The big request, of course, is for the wedding experience, the relationships, and the journey yet to come
Steve and Laura Spinella
street: 1930 Springcrest Rd, CO Springs 80920
mail: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Steve cell 719.355.4809, Laura cell 832.755.4261
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187, 800 343-3144
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@alumni.rice.edu>
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187, 800 343-3144
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@alumni.rice.edu>
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