"We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. No one has the time to listen, let alone love. Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn't He lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered the wide-open spaces of the past, and how can we get them back? There are no fallow lands for our emotions to lie down and rest in. We miss them more than we suspect.

Certainly one cannot blame all the pains of the world on lack of margin. But it is fair to say that the lack of margin is a much greater component of our pain than most realize.

As we subjugate progress, we first make it subservient to our greater goals and needs, especially relationships. We once again practice economics 'as if people mattered.' We once again agree that things do not own us and are not even very important. We once again assert that jobs are only jobs, that cars are only organized piles of metal, that houses will one day fall down - but that people are important beyond description. We once again assert that love stands supreme above all other forces, even to the ends of the universe and beyond."

~from Margin by Richard A. Swenson, M.D.~

"Above all, measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men."

~William Wilberforce~

Doug taping the wall in preparation for ceiling painting

We began painting the ceiling by hand recently. The process is going extremely intermittently and slowly because of all of the other demands on our time including selecting lighting and flooring.

The kids admire the newly delivered cabinets while Doug slaves away.

Doug has decided that anyone who enjoys painting ceilings must have a mental disorder.

Keep looking up.

Jerry and part of his beautiful family delivered their lovely handmade hickory cabinets to the house this week.

Joel and Benjie at work

Troyer's Custom Cabinetry did an amazing job making and installing the kitchen cabinetry - they gave us a very generous "fire discount" as they called it, and we highly recommend them to anyone who has need of the best quality custom cabinetry.

Kurt measuring and making a template for countertops; Barry of Granite City gave us another generous discount.

Gary expertly installs the outdoor lights despite the cold temperatures.

Shelves quickly appear in the closets, thanks to Roger and Duncan's handiwork.

Kenton is assigned the task of painting trim.

In some ways Kenton's methods of trim painting resemble a domino game.