Lynda's Blog

  It is so wonderful to feel physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually well. Thank God for friends who pray faithfully for me.   So the approximate quote for the digging and removal of rubbish outside was around $550 more than expected and when I accepted the quote for the concreting I had completely missed that it was ex GST. That’s a lesson learned! But in all, we have only exceeded budget by around $1,250 so better than expected and much better than the other quotes we had which were significantly more than expected.   Inside, nothing is happening at all. We are waiting for the re-worked quote from our preferred contractor. We are having a cold snap so with no heat pump and the wind whistling through the fireplace it is rather chilly on these winter evenings. We have been relying on a couple of fan heaters, until a week ago when I received an email from our electricity provider alerting us to the fact that in the last fortnight we had used 78% more po...

  Well it is Day 14 and I have finally tested negative for COVID. It was really quite a journey as although I didn’t feel so unwell a week ago, I did have a couple of days when I felt really sick. Then the quote for the renovations came in and it far exceeded the budget we had set aside, so there was going to be a need to completely change the work to be done and then to ask for a rework of the quote. Some of the frustrations of obtaining quotes for this work was the company that didn’t reply at all to online queries, the company that quoted for only about half of the work discussed and then the preferred company taking four weeks to get back to us and finding the quote too much for us to manage. So there I was, on a day when I was feeling really sick with the need to totally rework all the renovations so it would be more affordable. I was missing my friends that I would normally meet with regularly and the weather was miserable. We had only a fan heater for heating and wind ...

  After a busy week dealing with renovations and also volunteering several blocks of time to collect for The Salvation Army, I started feeling unwell last weekend.   Taking a COVID test I discovered that for the first time since COVID-19 became a pandemic, I had caught the virus. I had successfully navigated all the lock downs, levels and restrictions over the last four years without a problem and when things get back to normal I succumb. Oh well, maybe my body is telling me something! I am up to date with all my vaccinations as I fully believe in protecting others as well as myself and this is one way I can do this. I’m so glad I did, as although I feel grotty with symptoms of a heavy head cold and a cough, I am not too unwell. In New Zealand isolation is now recommended for five days but at day seven I am still positive. Many people no longer bother to isolate as all COVID mandates were dropped this year, but again I believe it is my role to love others and one way I c...

  As I complete each list for the renovations a new list emerges for the next steps. Some of the quotes have finally started to come in and to my dismay, they are higher than what I expected. However, I have ‘cast my cares’ (1 Peter 5:7) and ‘let my requests be known to God’ and he gives me His peace (Philippians 4:6, 7). The trouble is I keep taking my cares back!   Do you ever do that? Sometimes you have to keep giving your cares and anxieties to Him, no matter how many times you keep taking them back. The peace is very real if you can give your worries to Him and leave them there.   As I think of the work I am putting into all my lists, phone calls and emails as well as the physical work all centred around our house renovations, I am challenged as to whether I work as hard and put as much time into building my relationship with God! It is so easy to become so busy that we don’t have time for God. I believe this is a very real strategy of the evil one and someth...

  Today, as I sit at my computer, my brother is wrecking our kitchen! He has just taken out the top lot of cupboards. Once we have the quotes from the builder and have accepted a quote it might potentially move fast so we are doing all we can so there is no last-minute rush. However, with the number of jobs on and the difficulty of getting materials we could well be preparing and cooking out of the various boxes of food, utensils and china. I have had to create a spreadsheet for the quotes as I was starting to get mixed up with who was quoting on what! So for the outside, three quotes for building a pergola and two quotes for digging the old area out, as well as two quotes for the concrete slab. Inside, three builder’s quotes as it is quite a big job and we want to get value for money. The companies we have contacted also supply the electricians, plumbers and painters so it will be great to limit those businesses we have to deal with. Further down the track, we will be lookin...