Painting

It is funny, how such a normal task of painting can stir up so many memories!  Recently we were painting - will share pictures later - and it brought me  back to 1.5 years ago when we were tackling all kinds of jobs, including painting to ready our condo for sale to move to Haiti full time!!  Side note, funny how all the odds and ends projects get done before selling for the new people ... updated kitchen lighting is something we both wish had been done a loooong time before for us to enjoy a bit longer :)  I've always liked the idea of painting as it is typically a low-price-big-change kind of improvement.  It also got me thinking about the first (and last) time painting concrete walls ... summer of 2001 on our first missions trip to Haiti.  I distinctly remember working alongside Joel Schuster and talking with him about the great guy Gerritt was (not knowing G would propose later that summer :).  Little did we know then, that God would bring us here full-time!  It also brought me back to my childhood, when working alongside my Dad we pulled up old carpet and painted the floor boards in my room.  This was a big project, but he was so patient in showing/teaching me what I needed to know.  Many times recently I have heard new friends here mention missing the places where one can "get lost" for an hour or so (fill-in-the-blank ... bookstore, coffee shop, retail store, dear friends house) and for me, painting allowed that opportunity to "get lost" in the moment and turn my brain off for a while.  I'm thankful that God gave us the money to buy a few gallons of paint to brighten up our personal space but also the gift of many wonderful memories and making new ones too :)