This week as we are approaching the Thanksgiving holiday, our Sunday sermon was about training ourselves to have gratitude in all things.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
We took a Gratitude Quiz at church and out of a total of ten questions I scored 5 for the A’s (an attitude of gratitude) and 5 for the B’s (a grumbling attitude). I was a little disappointed in myself.
But, I am truly giving gratitude to God today for helping me finally finish a project I started in April of 2024. I have shared a little over half of the project in other blogs. But today I am rejoicing that I no longer have to work on this huge project and can move on to other things.
April 22, 2024, I first began to dig out the area around our pool with a shovel and moved the dirt away in a very small wheelbarrow.
I was finished with the first round of the project on September 9, 2024. All the grass and about six inches of dirt/clay had been removed a little at a time. I laid down landscape fabric and placed pavers around the perimeter. I spread a load of crushed run, then emptied several huge bags of pebbles into the area—one shovel full at a time.
I was totally shocked at what I could accomplish with hand tools, sweat, and determination. I felt that God was showing me that I could do more than I had previously thought I could do.
But, the job wasn’t totally finished. The area where the pool pump and pool supplies were kept was overgrown with grass.
And the far side of the pool was absolutely disgusting. Bermuda grass had grown right up to the walls of the pool.
Not only that, but grass had started to grow from the yard into the area between and under those pavers. I removed the pavers, and reset them on dry concrete mix a little at a time.
Then I started digging and moving grass and dirt again and repeated all the process I had done before and kept going with the concrete and pavers around the pool.
My husband helped with some of the grass at the back of the pool, but he tired easily and I went behind him and widened the area he had worked on. My stamina for this project has been amazing. I credit God with His help. I felt His presence as I worked, prayed, listened to podcasts, and the sweet birds He created. Last week I felt I could not possibly spend another day shoveling pebbles out of a huge bag when I had to start out standing on a portable toolbox step to even reach inside. The side of the bag said it held 3000 pounds. And I had three of them to empty out.
Today, I finished the job.
I pressure washed the plastic pool supply storage cabinet.
And here are the final pictures of the project.
Here is what I am grateful to have learned in the process of finishing this major project:
- God created our bodies in such a miraculous way, the more we use them, the better they work.
- He has made us so much stronger than we think.
- Stamina starts in the mind. You can do it if you think you can, and if you want to. God calls us to discipline ourselves. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 are some great verses to encourage us to discipline our bodies.
- What I learned by doing this project, I can apply to other areas of life when I feel I can’t go on. I can. This project has proved it.
- God is for me!
I want to end with the 1 Corinthians verses:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)