Welcome my friend, come on in & we’ll enjoy a cuppa together while reflecting upon the lessons I’ve learnt from Carpet of all things!

But before we continue let’s grab our cuppas, a treat & get comfy. Today I’m enjoying a slice of gf home baked Date Loaf & a mug of Vanilla Chai Tea which go well together.

Weather wise it’s particularly dry here on the east coast of Australia at the moment. While we’ve had a few sprinkles we really need a nice refreshing shower of rain over several days (which thankfully arrived since writing this).

Now we’re comfy sipping our cuppas, let’s begin…

The back story

It’s been a decorating dream & goal of mine to get new carpet throughout our home since we got married & I moved into this house over two decades ago.

You see I love wall to wall fitted carpet, I think it gives cosy warmth & comfort to a home like no other floor covering can. I know it’s a matter of personal taste but hubby & I love the feel, look & atmosphere that carpet brings to a home.

And I’ll let you in on a little secret, we have retro carpet in our home at the moment that we presume was installed when the house was built nearly five decades ago! Shhh, it’s our little secret, okay? Lol!

While we always keep it clean & well vacuumed it’s become very worn in parts, well & truly reaching the end of it’s life.

Unfortunately, over the decades since we’ve been married so many other priorities seem to have risen to the top of the Priority List with replacing the house with Carpet sliding down the list time & time again. Especially after both of us had to enter retirement much earlier than either of us had anticipated due to chronic health conditions.

I was once asked the following question; 

Why not just pull up the old carpet & live with bare floors & mats until it reaches the top of the priority list?

Well unfortunately that just wasn’t an option, as our home is built on a thick concrete slab & it’s like a block of ice underfoot even on the hottest of Summer days! For without the insulation of even retro carpeting it’s just not livable.

However, the time has finally arrived, the new carpeting has been chosen & ordered. But before it can be laid there has been much hard work to be done.

The Process

You see there’s a process hubby & I needed to put into action before the old can be taken away & the new laid.

I must say hubby has been working hard towards this for ages, slowly room by room he’s been shuffling furniture & lifting the old carpet back & scraping the original glue from the concrete slab & vacuuming the now perished insulation.

Once it’s all vacuumed & scraped he then lays the old carpet back again so we have some form of insulation against the icy slab & slides the furniture back into place.

However, this was not the only job on the ‘To Do’ list for us before the installers arrive. We’ve both needed to sort through over two decades of accumulated stuff because all personal items, decorations, books & crockery need to be removed from bookcases, cabinets & bedroom furniture that are to be moved on the day. A mammoth task!

I shared this process in;

Death Cleaning?

So that when the carpet layers arrive to install the insulation & new carpeting they can easily move the furniture out of each room, lift up the old carpet for disposal, install smooth edge for the carpet to be attached, lay the insulation & then fit the carpet.

In other words apart from the tiled areas of our home the rest of the entire household is being moved outside & back again in one day!

Lessons Learned

Life is a process, isn’t it? And in order to grow in life it takes a balanced approach, between reflection & action.

Reflection in what we have experienced in life & what needs to be addressed & healed.

And action, in consciously doing the hard yards of the process for the new growth to happen, similar to what we’ve been doing in preparation for the new carpet to be installed.

And recognising that we can’t do it alone.

While hubby & I are still very capable people in many ways, we’re a lot slower & not as physically able as we once were.

We have recognised this fact & knowing that we will definitely need help on the day. As we can’t move heavy furniture in & out of our home in one day anymore. We have organised that help with the Carpet Company when installation day finally arrives.

In other words humbling ourselves & recognising that we need to allow others with more energy, better health & the expertise to help us meet our goal.

There are great spiritual lessons here;

• Letting go of the old (change is not always easy but we need to let go)
• And preparing for the new means redirecting our focus;

“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?” Isaiah 43:18-19 BSB

• And humbling ourselves in recognising that we need God’s help every step of the way to reach the upward goal of Eternity;

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10 NKJ

A process of healing & new growth then takes place which I shared in Mending Brokenness.

Yes, the lessons learnt from a decorating dream becoming a reality has been quite profound my friend.

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

or in Prayer

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