I want to continue the story of our kitchen renovation. We had a three phase plan to update our kitchen so it didn’t look like it was stuck in 1970. In order to complete this remodel, we needed help. Because my husband is in the military, all of our family lives in Texas, so we needed to do some convincing to get some laborers to assist us in this giant project.

The first guests to arrive were Colby’s grandparents who helped us clean out all the cabinets and install the canned lighting in the kitchen. We were so thankful for Colby’s grandfather’s knowledge of electrical work! Two days later, Colby’s dad arrived and began to help take cabinets and part of the wall down. Then Colby’s mom arrived a day later and Colby’s brother after that. It was like a family reunion but with a lot of manual labor and dust.

The main focus when we had all the manpower at our house was putting in the new cabinets. If it was just the two of us and I wasn’t 7 months pregnant, I still would be no help in that situation. With my feet constantly swelling and the aching back, we knew that I was benched from doing any real tough jobs on this project.

So here was this wonderful, loving group of people ready and willing to help where we needed it.

The cabinets were set to arrive on Thursday which would give us at least two full days to get them nice and comfy in their new home. Everyone had planned to leave on Sunday in the morning, so we wanted to do as much as we could while we had the help.

On Tuesday night, we received a call that the cabinets had just been shipped and I began to panic. I tried to reason that they were close by so being shipped just meant they were on the way to our house and we would have them the next day. That was not the case.

On Thursday, our cabinet guy let us know that the cabinets would arrive the following Tuesday. Almost a week later than what we were told.

I was furious. We had asked most of Colby’s family to make a trip to help us install these new cabinets and they were not going to be here until everyone was gone. I felt terrible. I was also terrified because I knew it would be a disaster trying to put the cabinets up just the two of us. I didn’t want my lack of upper body strength and protruding belly to be the reason Colby got crushed trying to screw in upper cabinets.

The family was all sitting around while I was fuming about this terrible inconvenience. I wanted to call someone. Ask for a discount. Give them my strong opinions about how they should conduct business better. But Colby’s grandfather calmly looked at me and told me there was nothing the business could do. He said it was all in the hands of the carrier and that was not on the business owner. I quieted down but still felt angry inside.

It was not until after all our family had left and we had our cabinets up that I realized how dumb it was to be so upset about the cabinets arriving late. I mean yes, it stinks that they told us a date that was incorrect, but in the end, it all worked out. Colby’s grandfather was able to stay a week and help us install the cabinets. And all the other projects we had in mind were able to get completed with everyone’s help.

All in all the kitchen was completed on time.

I can’t help but think of Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”(ESV). This does not mean that all our earthly plans workout because we love God, but that all things end up bringing glory to God. All things. Even if they seem bad in the moment.

If I had handled the whole timeline mess up my way, some pour person would have gotten an undeserving earful. Because we rolled with the punches and made the most out of the time we had our family, work was completed and I believe God was honored with our fellowship.

When we try to implement our own personal justice, often times we end up sinning. We let the wrong things bother us and handle it the wrong way. Being able to let God’s goodness take over means stepping back. Take a breath. Does “justice” really need to be served or could a better reaction honor God?