old house

May Flowers

May 16, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard 1 Comment

Usually, by this time in the spring, I’m swooning over flowers. Though I’ve had my fair share of picked tulips, triumphantly handed to me by little hands, this year the phrase “May flowers” makes me think more of the blessings I feel showering around me.

It’s been a rainy spring. So rainy, in fact, that we had standing water in our yard–the first time in 20 years, say the people who know these things.

It’s been a spring full of other surprises, too. About eight months ago, I gave up completely–for the third time–the idea of building a house, one that was reliable, not a fixer-upper, safe for our children and peaceful for my often exhausted husband. We just couldn’t do it. There were a lot of reasons why it had to be, once again, put off, but I really had my hopes up (despite my promises to myself that I wouldn’t).

I think there was a point when, in my prayer, I looked at God and resigned myself completely. “Okay. This place might be falling down and I might feel like the bugs are part of my family, but you love me. You love my family more than I do. So I guess it’s your problem.”

About a month ago, a friend sent me an email, alerting me that the house just down the road was going to be sold. Would I be interested in contacting the seller?

It could be a coincidence that the seller is an old colleague of my husband’s. It might be chance that the house was about what we would have built (the floor plan we selected was almost the same as what this house is). It could be just lucky that we’ll be closing in the next week and will only have to move, essentially, across the street. It’s not, though.

Over and over, I’ve had this experience of God’s love, of his providing for me far better than what I ask. I didn’t see this coming; I couldn’t have predicted the answer to an ongoing plea to be such so far over and above what we wanted.

And would you believe this is only one of the many blessings I’ve experienced this spring?

This May, I’m feeling Mary at work in my life in a special way. The blessings flowers blooming all around me and filling my soul with their fragrance seem to be a bouquet sent straight from her. I have no doubt it was Mama Mary’s prayers that made the difference.

I can only utter a thanks to her, tears in my eyes. I can only imagine just how much she must love us.

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Filed Under: Inspired by the Virgin Mary, Mary Moment Mondays Tagged With: blessings, gratitude, Mary Moment Monday, old house, Virgin Mary

Making Do…with a Smile

July 19, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 4 Comments

Part of the Mary Moment Monday series

I had an attack of PoorMe the other day. There was no good reason for it (but, really, is there ever?): I was just not feeling well and was watching a home improvement project take longer than usual (which is, sadly, normal with this place…we always seem to get into more than we bargain for). It was discouraging, somehow, to see two men I love dearly working so hard and coming up against hurdles and complications.

I was facing my own series of challenges in the house, between my temper and my girls. I saw a hole where a wall used to be and wondered how this house would ever be a haven, a place of beauty, a home. My washer had stopped working earlier in the week, and little things that normally don’t phase me were bringing me to my knees.

It was all looking pretty hopeless to me.

Things got better later in the day, and on Sunday, I woke up and, after breakfast and the semi-completion of the project, started thinking in a whole different way about things. What if, I thought, I made our porch entrance into something that would make us smile? What if I made a few small changes (valences on the windows, repainting the floor, moving the freezer to make the area look larger) and did a few small (and, for me, unfamiliar and uncomfortable) decorative improvements?

When I mentioned them to my husband, that Prince Charming who not only puts up with my whims and who keeps our castle livable, he was supportive. He even let me use his tape measure. I measured here and I measured there. I made a list and a plan to go to the home improvement store where they must recognize us by now.

And, this morning, after my quiet devotional time, I went out and started the first step of my Pretty Porch Plan. I swept and lugged and battled cobwebs, all to the tune of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I considered how differently I was looking at my entire house in light of this one small project.

Over the last ten years, I’ve come to the conclusion that home ownership is highly overrated. I might protest it, loudly and often, if not for the fact that I love the land that makes up our property, and I see beauty and peace all around me.

And then there’s the thought of what Mary would do. Did she feel ill-equipped in her home? Did she find herself wishing, longing, hoping for more and better? Did she wonder what God had in mind, exactly?

And if so, where did she find the strength to continue to say Yes, to embrace the call to higher work in the ordinary humdrum of her days?

I find her here, with me, in this old farmhouse, and it gives me hope. I need that hope right now. I’m clinging to it.

And I’m looking at color swatches for other areas of the house.

Filed Under: Farm Life, Inspired by the Virgin Mary, Mary Moment Mondays Tagged With: Farm Life, home improvement, homemaking, Mary Moment Monday, old house, Virgin Mary

The Farmhouse Path to Mary

April 26, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 3 Comments

My old farmhouse plays quite a role in my life. As with some of my very favorite books, it is, in fact, a character in my life.

If my life was a novel like, say China Court, I might have a deeper appreciation for the high ceilings and the one-of-a-kind floors. I suspect it would be because I would be able to focus on those romantic features and not contend, instead, with the wasps and termites, drafts and whistles, space issues and loose nails.

If I was reading a novel about my house, I’d laugh at the antics of the woman living in such a place, raising little girls and planning meals and contending with 100-year-old construction that didn’t have electricity as part of the plan.

Recently, though, I couldn’t help but reflect on my old farmhouse and how it has challenged my faith, and especially my devotion to Mary.

I didn’t exactly plan to live in an old farmhouse. It just happened to be the house my husband owned. It’s perched on a lovely piece of property, one that continues to woo me with its gentle slopes and beautiful views. The creek bed, the surrounding fields, and even the weeds have an allure.

It was built at the turn of the 20th century, when life was very different. It started as a two-story four-room brick house in the middle of nowhere. Over the years, subsequent owners added on to it until my husband’s brother purchased it, 15 years ago. It’s now a quite nice amount of living space, though arranged very differently than modern houses.

So why is my first reaction to a friend’s comment about the possibilities a cynical remark about wasps and drafts?

Often, my old farmhouse forces me to step back from the fast track of life, from the internet that I’ve so embraced, and find silence.

Standing in my kitchen, with my hands immersed in soapy water after dinner, watching the sun set over our back barn, I can’t help but wonder if Mary had a view like mine.

Read the rest at Faith & Family Live: “Finding Mary in an Old Farmhouse.”

Filed Under: Inspired by the Virgin Mary, Mary Moment Mondays Tagged With: Faith, Faith & Family Live, Farm Life, Mary Moment Monday, old house, Virgin Mary, writing

Making Diamond Castles of Old Farmhouses

November 17, 2009 By Sarah Reinhard 1 Comment

One of the best things about life with my four-year-old is the surprising results of her imagination and enthusiasm mixed together.

She doesn’t see the limitations of life the same way I do, and it’s a great lesson for me, though it’s also annoying at times.

“Mom, our house is a diamond castle,” she’ll begin, “and the you’re a queen.” When told that I have to make dinner, even if I am wearing an old bridesmaid gown from 2001, she’s undeterred.
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“The kitchen is your palace,” she announces, and suits up in a sparkly blue dress and high heels. Her little sister, smitten with the thought of shoes, digs into my closet and thumps around the house squealing.

My house is a far cry from a diamond castle. Barbie won’t be stopping by to shower compliments on my design choices, and though we have a pretty impressive variety of dress-up clothes, I’m pretty sure Barbie and her comrades can outdo us in selection.

This doesn’t stop my four-year-old, though. What she sees isn’t the end of the story.

It’s a reminder to keep dreaming, to keep my sights set higher, to stay with my ideals, however unrealistic or silly they may seem.

These are the thoughts that were whirling through my head when I wrote this week’s column on Our Lady of Liesse, a tale which has knights and princesses and adventure galore. The Queen of Heaven, after all, is not one to shun the stuff of fairy tales.

Maybe I need to find a picture of Our Lady of Liesse and put it in my kitchen. She and I can share in the palace of my domesticity, the royalty of my busy errands, and the entourage of little princesses who accompany me most of the places I go.