Kyle's Random

I don’t really care for yard work very much.  It’s not really the work itself that’s disagreeable to me, but the heat that tends to accompany the growth of plants and grass.

Even still, I love the results.

Over the past few weeks we’ve been walking through the process of purchasing a house here in Knoxville.  Unfortunately, things haven’t gone quite as smooth as we were hoping, but there’s still a chance that we will close on the house this Wednesday.  If not, we’ll have to send new paperwork back through bankruptcy court (the house is currently owned by the bank), and that will delay closing by several weeks.

Through this time, a few things have become apparent:

• I really struggle with patience.  Once I have a thing planned in my mind, I struggle with any deviation to that plan.
• Being unsure of what’s going to happen is unmotivating.  For instance, even though I’m packing everything up, many things will have to be unpacked if closing is delayed.
• Its hard to enjoy living in a rented house once you’ve packed away all your decorations.  It feels like a barren shell of a place – not like home.
• There is some sick part of me deep inside that kind of enjoys packing (just a little).  Maybe my mom dropped me on my head as an infant, or something.
• This is a GREAT time to buy a house.  Both the soon-to-end tax credit and the extremely low interest rate sweeten the deal considerably.  In fact, my wife might just end up with new living room furniture for the first time in our marriage.

Barring any unforeseen complications, this is the house we’ll be moving into the beginning of next month.  We’re grateful for our time renting a home in Farragut, but it’s time to move on from here, and we’re excited to make this our new home.

At the same time, a lot of my reading over the past few days has been focused on the temporary nature of this life and our stuff.  It’s adding some great perspective as we make this transition.  The house and stuff that we own is cool, but it can never own our hearts.

Lord, please help me to value obedience to you over my possessions.  Protect my heart from being ensnared by temporary stuff.

So, what about you?  In the materialistic world we live in, what helps you to remember that it’s all temporary?  Any tips?