Installing doors had an interesting effect on me in the process of building. Jer and I felt like there was both a sense of victory and solidifying that the structure was, in fact, a home.
Let’s back up. This weekend it was hard to decide what was the most important thing to work on because there was no way to get it all done. I suggested we get our front door up to the property, since we were taking an empty flatbed in order to haul lumber back. There was one particular door I liked but the cost was less than appealing. We decided on a less expensive door that was kind of similar.
As usual, we left early, making a couple stops on the way. One was to pick up the door at 6 am in the morning. When we got to the store we found the door I originally wanted for less, still more than the cheaper door, but the one we both really wanted. Yay!
Once at the property, our first choice of action was to move the woodstove that had been sitting outside, into the house. We really didn’t think it was possible for the two of us to move this over three-hundred-pound item. Yet, Jer and I are both problem solvers. Strapping it to the tractor, Jer moved it to the porch and set it perfectly on a four-wheel dolly. Then just we rolled it into the house. It was so easy.
Next was the front door. It took some time but Jer did a great job. We finished putting the moister barrier around it. It felt so good to have it in place, even if we didn't have the hardware.
You might be wondering about the victory part. Well, first was the woodstove but next were the patio doors. Jer decided we should try to move the downstairs patio door in. I had tried to help lift this in the past, unsuccessfully. It was suggested that we take one door out. We carried it to the back of the house but it wasn’t easy. Once again, Jer did the heavier lifting. The second half was harder and heavier. We stopped several times to regrip but successfully installed it. Now we had our downstairs closed in, all except for one window they had to reorder.
Jer and I laid in bed that night trying to figure out how we could hoist the second patio door upstairs. In the end, Jer mostly carried it, while I helped maneuver it around our zig-zag staircase. With our doors in place it felt like we had a real home, not just a bunch of woodsticks nailed together.
We had agonized over how we were going to do these seemingly impossible things with just him and myself. Yet once again, God showed us how nothing is impossible with Him.