Unleashing the Creative Power

I was reading in Genesis 11 and it contains a revolutionary lesson on unity and communication.

GENESIS 11:4-6 (NLT)
4 Let's build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies – a monument to our greatness! This will bring us together and keep us from scattering all over the world."
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 "Look!" he said. "If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them!

A team reaches its success based of how well they can interact with each other to attain the common goal. The communication of the shared vision and the framework to achieve that vision is critical in achieving it. But many people fall short and fail or become sidetracked from the main thing because of unlimited elements.

A leader's job is to facilitate unity and to make each person understand his role in contributing to the whole team, bringing the understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

In this verse, we see these things in action. We see vision, unity, and a teamwork mentality that got God's attention. "If they can accomplish this... just think of what they will do later."

God knows our potential. We are made in His likeness with unlimited creative abilities. And if we can team up with others to achieve God-driven dreams, and harness the power of unity and communication, then "Nothing will be impossible for" us.

After all, "anything is possible if a person believes." (Matthew 9:23)

I can't wait to explore this more!

Kitchen Remodel Recap

I became too tired to update the blog everyday with the progress photos, so I'll give you the Reader's Digest version of the rest of the story which is almost complete.

Really it's completely finished but we have a couple of minor adjustments to make to the doors since we changed the hardware and we have to make a new door for the cabinet by the oven. 

The last update was before the sink hole was finished.  I had to stop because the rotozip blade made the laminate too hot. A couple of times I blew out embers and one time I had to call Cassie over to throw some water on it. It was crazy slow.

Day 9

So I ended up getting a hole saw from Walmart (Thank you Jesus for letting us live by a 24hour Walmart).  I used it to cut the corners and then finished the straight pieces with a hand saw. That wasn't fun either.

But hey, it got done.

And I'm happy about that...

Day 10

We grouted the tile on day 10... then went to sleep. Ah... sleep.

Day 11

We put shoe base up...

Get the dishwasher in...

And the refrigerator... hey is that the beginnings of a kitchen?

Day 12

Today I cut the decorative trim in the cabinet doors and Cassie painted them.

Day 13

The microwave went up on Day 13.

Day 14

We had to re-drill the hole in the floor for the 220 power cord to connect the stove.  The way it was routed made it way too short to reach stove while leaving enough room to let me back there to wire it up.

And Cassie paints the kitchen.

Day 15

The only little thing that's left is this little light to put above the sink. However, I didn't realize that this little thing would become a big thing since the current light is a recessed light and I'm too cheap to pay the $40 for the conversion kit.

I took a 1"x4" board and put it up in the hole and had to screw in a light box to it, then anchor the 1x4 into the ceiling.

Now, wire the light. It sounds easy, but it wasn't. This was the most frustrating. It took me all evening to do it.

By the time I was finished, I had experience in wiring a light for 8 times. The bad thing is that it was the same light. I even had to undo my jimmy-rigged light box holder twice.

Drumroll please......

This picture is a little blurry so forgive me. I'll get a better one up later.

I will have a comparison photo up tomorrow of the before and after... so until then. I'm going to go to bed!

new work area

My Mother-in-Law put this in for me today. Thanks Linda.

Kitchen Remodel Day 8

We've grouted the tile, but we have run into another hitch. Imagine that. We were going to do the floor grout but we only have one bucket and the faucet outside is frozen because it's too cold and we couldn't rinse out the bucket.

I started cutting the sink tonight. Everyone says that this is the hardest part. I think they were saying that because it's hard to center it and get the cut right.

I have a roto zip which is a pretty cool tool but it doesn't cut countertops too well. In fact, it goes about an inch an hour. It's slow. I was only able to cut the two sides and the front in 1 hour. That's slow. I ended up using the hand saw.

We're about to go to Walmart and i'm going to see if they have something to get the corners on the back and the back line. It's too close to the wall to use the roto zip or circular saw. So here's hoping.

I guess we'll finish the floor grout tomorrow during the KU game.

Kitchen Remodel Day 7

Happy New Year!!!

We rang in the new year covered in thin-set. But the light is at the end of the tunnel. We have the floor tile completely laid and the backsplash is now up.

2 days ago if I could have hit the "undo" key and gone as it had never been touched, I would have. It just seemed overwhelming, especially since I'm a musician and I make my living on a computer. We don't do this! And I've found out, we don't do it fast either.

I couldn't imagine where we would be if Cassie wasn't helping. But it's been a good experience and now I'm proud of what we have done.

Here is the finished tile.


Here's the backsplash and you can tell the rest.