handyman upgrade...

I've decided to up my rating as a handyman...from "idiot" to "sub-par". Okay, so I'm still not too impressive, but I'm proud of my recent accomplishment. I told you about Jon helping me (actually, me helping Jon) with my stairs. He taught me a lot. So I felt a little twinge of construction confidence (which usually leads to an expensive run at Home Depot and having to start over a few times). While Heidi and the kids were taking a nap on Monday, I build a wall in the basement. Yup...built a wall. It's only a knee wall covering the last 5 feet of stairs heading into the basement...but I did it. And I did it by myself.

When Heidi woke up, the wall, including drywall, was in place and not wobbling at all. I didn't want to blog about it too soon -- you know what they say about the pride and fall thing. But for the past several days, it's stayed up! I think it's going to work.

I've been taping and mudding the seams. It's not perfect, but hey, you can't beat the price of cheap labor these days. All told, I probably saved up 57 cents...maybe a bit more...but it was fun to do it myself and claim with pride, "I did that" everytime friends come over to play pool in the basement.

Next Wednesday the new carpet will go in. Until then, I will work tirelessly to finish mudding and wet-sanding, priming, and then painting the whole thing. If I get to painting before the carpet comes, then I don't have to tape anything off...just grab the roller and go to town! That's my kind of paint job!

On a different note...I'm excited about this weekend. Though this will not be my first Easter as a lead pastor, it will be the first Easter at which I anticipate people showing up who aren't related to me or close friends (that was a brief memory to the pre-mature "launch" of New England Christian Community, the church I was a part of launching in Ipswich, MA...about 7 years ago).

Shaun, the Ministry Intern at Northwest, is working hard to shape the Good Friday service. It's going to have a wonderfully reflective tone...acoustic music, reflective atmosphere, etc. I'm excited to be a part of it.

Then on Sunday, it's the greatest celebration in the church calendar. Without Easter, the resurrection of Christ, then the rest of our faith is pointless. Without the hope of eternal transformation and new life, then I'm wasting my time. And so, on Sunday, we party!

Tomorrow afternoon Heidi will be picking Rachel P. up at O'Hare. Rache was our first official babysitter (she even included a copy of our first check to her in a "creative memories" page) for Izak. She loves him. And when Libby came along, Rache loved her, too.

We were having dinner on Sunday at her house; her parents wanted us to meet another couple they knew well. During the conversation, it came up that we didn't have any sitters for Izak, and I was getting a little stir-crazy. I jumped and asked Rachel if she sat. A little for her cousins. Interview over...the husband in me (the one eager to go on a date with his wife-turned-mother) hired her and arranged for her to be picked up on Friday evening. That was easy...

It wasn't until we were in the car that it dawned on me that I probably should have consulted with my wife before making that decision. I offered to cancel, but Heidi decided to go with it, even though it made her uncomfortable. WARNING TO DADS: Don't make that mistake. For us, it worked out great! Rache is an incredible sitter and a good friend. But I don't think it will work out that well every time. Always talk with your wife before making plans for a newby sitter to take care of your first child...nuf said.

God's given us a special relationship with Rachel. She's cared well for our family and we've had the opportunity to love her well, too. I thought it was a little strange for a teenager to want to spend most of her Spring Break with us...not to mention that she turns 16 on Sunday! But then I remembered how much I loved the Ritsema family. I used to hang out there a lot as a teen. My big rebellion was staying over at their house too late talking about faith stuff...ooohhh. That gave me a lot. Could it be that God is using Heidi (and me a little bit, but mostly Heidi) to walk with Rache at this important time in her life. Could the Furrs be her Ritsemas? What a powerful and humbling thoughts. Or maybe she just likes Chicago...

She'll be here a week. Should be a great time connecting again.

Well, this has beena long blog. Much happening, not enough time to blog more regulalry. If you've dialed in this long, get a life (except you, Mom...)...just kidding. Thanks for letting me share this with you.

Peace,

Matt