The Fixer Upper Christian and Sunday Grace Notes

Many times, I’ve felt like my life and heart is going through a major renovation. Here’s how the Lord comes in and repairs the brokenness in the fixer upper Christian.

We all love to watch those shows where a dated, ugly home gets transformed into something amazing.

But would you roll up your sleeves and tackle that project?

The Fixer Upper Christian

Imagine a broken down, dirty, rat infested house covered in weeds and mold.

Would you purchase it and renovate it or just pass on by?

In our DIY loving life, Trent and I would definitely be drawn to fix it up to see the beauty in the brokenness of that home.

When we renovate those neglected spaces, we can see the value where there was none.

When you repair that brokenness, it has value again.

And that’s what God does on our own lives.

Where most people would see the need for it to be bulldozed and leveled to the ground, Jesus sees the redeemable, just as He does with us.

Jesus moves in to our broken and busted life where there is a mess.

He moves in and does a work that only He can do, so that we can showcase how good and awesome our God is.

Why does He do that?

Because we are His masterpiece!

Eph 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

So what does that look like?

Here are some ways that God renovates the fixer upper Christian.

He prunes and removes the bad things.

When you look up the word “renew” in a greek dictionary, you will find “to cause something to become new and different (i.e., better).”

This brings us back to what is stored in our hearts.

Just like a home renovation and organization, it’s all about taking inventory of what you have tucked away in forgotten closets.

Getting rid of what’s unattractive and useless, and replacing it with what’s beautiful, useful and healthy.

Have you ever used a decluttering list to help you get your home organized?

In Ephesians 4:17 – 5:14, Paul outlines that list of things that we need to purge from our own lives.

As followers of Jesus, we don’t simply believe and act a little differently than we did before we believed.

We have to completely change our old ways of thinking and behavior.

We tear down most of our old broken house so that we might build something altogether new, for His glory.

And we remove all that junk so that we might replace it with the new beautiful things promised to us.

He replaces the bad things with good things.

If you continue in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 15-19 show us how we can rebuild a new, healthy way of living.

It’s about repositioning what’s good in our hearts and using them.

What are your gifts and talents and how can that be used in a better way?

And moving forward, we are called to not return to that old behavior.

As is says in Romans 12:2, when we are called to renew our minds, it means to become more kingdom-minded, to be able to test and approve what God’s good, pleasing and perfect will is.

I know that when we see the end result of a really good renovation, I can’t help but be pleased with how it turned out.

God wants us to approve the end result of our life renovations too, which, by the way, would be living out “His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Reorient your thinking for His purposes.

How to receive the Lord’s renovations in our lives and delight in it

So where do we start?

Sometimes the most daunting task of a major renovation is how to begin. Here are a few things that may help.

Pray with an open hand toward God.

Most often, many show prayer with folded hands and bowed heads.

If we think of opening our hands to Him, not only are we releasing the grasp of what old thoughts and behaviors we are holding on to.

We are also approaching Him with open hands to receive the blessings He has to give to us.

And be patient in the process.

This doesn’t happen right away. It takes time and practice.

Listen to the words of the wise;
apply your heart to my instruction.

For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart
and always ready on your lips.

Prov 22:17-18

We need to purposefully store up the good and remind ourselves often of what that looks like.

And finally, learn to accept His forgiveness.

This is something that I struggle with, even though I hear the sweet promises in Psalm 103, reminding me that he has removed my sin as far as the east is from the west.

Rather than condemning yourself for past mistakes, see it as an opportunity to renovate your thinking.

Sometimes it’s as simple as recognizing you don’t have to think that way anymore!

Once God makes a new creation out of us, nobody sees the old stuff. They just see the beautiful new person that has been changed from God’s mighty handiwork.

And this can bless others lives.

When we lose sight of our own forgiveness, we can lose sight of compassion for others.

In changing our thinking through forgiving ourselves, we can then help others who are hurting.

Just as we make over the rooms and homes in our lives, our God does the same to our broken hearts.

What parts of your life have been made new because of God’s grace at work in you?

What parts of your life need renovation?

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The Latest with Us

We are in the height of the busy season.

So I’ve felt a bit frazzled lately.

Christmas parties, school performances, gift shopping, holiday travel, end of year projects and all the other to dos have definitely left me feeling like there isn’t enough time in the day.

My hope and prayer is to reorient my thinking so that I can focus on what is most important this season.

And it looks like an official release from the heart surgeon is very soon. We will be sharing an update in stories very soon!

New Happenings

It has begun, friend!

Trent and I just recorded our first podcast! We plan to launch it at the beginning of 2023, so if you are a fan of podcasts, stay tuned for ours to drop in just a few weeks.

I am partnering up with my friends at Romabio Paints to help launch their new product line that comes out at the beginning of the year.

And let me tell you, it’s gonna be good!!

My Favorites from the Week

With all the changes that have happened to us over the past few months, I’ve been itching for a quick refresh in my home.

But with physical limitations, we have to keep them small for the moment.

I’m looking at you bedroom.

When we made over our bedroom, it made such a difference in how we were able to create a space to rest and relax.

Well, I want to zhuzh it up a bit to create a cozy retreat for the winter months.

I’m thinking of adding these curtains and rods. In fact, I may remove all our plantation shutters but shh…don’t tell Trent yet. 😉

I also found this cozy blanket from Target along with these cute throw pillow covers.

Hopefully I can squeeze this update in before the year is out, so be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss the next post!

• Abundance Not Scarcity – Yr 1 Wk 7
• That Time I Was Redeemed – Sunday Grace Notes – Yr 1 Wk 6
• The Fixer Upper Christian – Sunday Grace Notes – Yr 1 Wk 5
• Trusting God in the Deserts of our Life – Sunday Grace Notes – Yr 1 Wk 4
• God Does Give You More Than You Can Handle – Sunday Grace Note – Yr 1 Wk 3
• Tackling Worries and Sunday Grace Notes – Year 1 Week 2
• Overcoming the Overwhelm: Sunday Grace Notes – Year 1 Week 1