Today Mike & I had the opportunity to put into practice one of the most important words of advice that I have ever heard in my life. This comes from Andy Stanley’s series “Ask It“.
Mike & I bought our home in 1989. It was a doer-upper and as a young family with 1 baby at the time, we set about doing it up. It took years and the children grew up with the building and garden growing. Over the past 10-15 years, our focus has been on raising the children, being involved in Christian ministry and Mike earning a living to meet the needs of our family. The children have now grown and gone and our home has taken on a neglected air as it has not been our main focus of attention. 2016 will be the year of the house. Right now though, we want to do something about the back garden which is split into above the embankment and below. Above is the biggest problem. Frequented by moles, nothing grows there and it’s far from a water source, so if we do every try and put something there, it doesn’t get watered!
Today we got someone to come in and quote for artificial turf. It sounded great, but it’s about about 100 square metres so could cost a lot of money. After Ian left, Mike & I debated about how much we wanted to spend in that spot. I really wanted to do it, immediately, now, yes! But Mike, ever cautious, wasn’t happy. He wasn’t sure putting that amount of money into a quarter of the garden was worth it. Then I had a brainwave. I know, I said, I have learned this from Andy Stanley, so let’s put it to the test:
“In light of our past experiences, present circumstances and future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do”
We unpacked it.
Past experiences: We looked at the number of bad contractors we have had and the mess they have made. We thought about the good contractors we have had the fantastic work that has been done. It suddenly was as clear as day. We need to see this company’s work.
Present circumstances: Can we afford it? Yes we can but we don’t know if we want to put such a lot of money into a quarter of the garden.
Future hopes and dreams: will it add enough value to the house should we want to sell? I don’t think THAT much money will necessarily be got back on selling the house.
Amazing. Our conclusion was quickly drawn. We will halve the amount of synthetic turf and pave around it to give us both the needs we have. Boom.
Thank you Andy Stanley. That really helped.
Proverbs 1:5
“Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance…”
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂