A Time to Build

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build..." Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

Five years ago Matt began to dream and plot and plan. I harumphed.


Three years ago he printed a floor plan. I harumphed again, but I peeked at it with interest. I made a few remarks, he made some new marks and printed again.

A year and half ago Matt took his little house plan to Grady Montgomery, an architect from Gonzales who hand drew the layout of our dream house. I didn't harumph this time. I perked up and listened and even put my two cents worth in when I could. Before my very eyes the dazzling possibility of building our own house began to unfold.

Last Easter I picked up our blueprints from Grady. It was time. Time to build!

Soon I found myself surveying our ten acres with Matt. We picked a spot and I began to believe that it really was God's will for us to build a house. And He has been so faithful to that end already!

Over the course of another year we looked for a builder and a bank. We shook hands with Tuan Tran, a local Vietnamese builder out of Bay City, back in July. Things were shaping up!

The financing was a lengthy ordeal that forced us to build up some "intestinal fortitude". We "fired" one bank very near to closing and began a happier relationship with a local bank that got us to a signing in 3 1/2 weeks! Now we're cooking!

March 19: I got the building permit from the county.

March 20: Pedro Olguin and Tran come out to shoot the elevation. Matt and I take Sarina and Lavery out to the barn to help tear down a fence. The neighbors run over to help us pull nails before a storm moves in. Too late! Just as I head to the house with the girls, dime-size hail hammers us. "Run!" I scream to Sarina as I scoop up Lavery and cover her head. Sarina cries all the way back to the house because a piece of hail hurt her finger. She manages to throw open the house door and we dive inside while hail pours in around us. I slam the door shut and lie panting on the floor with the kids. In less than 8 minutes the hail is replaced by a roaring downpour of rain and a soaked Matt appears at the door. At least he had taken cover in the barn during the hail. What a freakish way to start our project!

March 22: We break ground! McCoy's delivers the lumber and Olguin's men put up the forms for the foundation. We put on our favorite Irish music, Gaelic Storm, and do a jig with the girls in the living room!

March 23: Tran's men build an outhouse and set it up over our septic tank! It'll save us over $200 a month in port-a-potty rental fees. Plus it gives us a lot to laugh about!

March 24-25: The girls and I hoot and shout as we count 14 dump trucks spill fresh dirt on our foundation. We make it our ministry to take ice tea to the workers. Felipe, Arturo and the others thank us. They are hard workers.

March 30-31: The plumber Rosando Vargas comes and puts in stubouts. Matt goes out each night and inspects and measures and stews. Olguin's men work hard digging the ditches by hand with shovels.

While talking with Vargas today I noticed he was holding a flower. The man next to him had a bright yellow flower stuck in his button hole. I looked around and saw another worker with a purple flower hanging out of his mouth as he shoveled dirt from a two foot deep ditch. Then I saw Sarina and Lavery running from the grassy yard to the dirt covered foundation passing out wild flowers to all the workers. Some of them were grinning sheepishly. I hope the girls remember this time of building. It is affording us the opportunity to show hospitality and to minister to those who are making our dream become a reality.