Over the past month or so, I've had ample opportunity to practice my abilities to handle frustration. I won't go into great detail over all the different things that have frustrated me, but there has been one rather large one that my wife and I have had to deal with.
About two months ago, we made the decision to finish the three rooms in our house that were unfinished. They were our laundry room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. We had never gone through a project like this before, and didn't know many people who did this kind of work. So we started from scratch, calling around to get quotes and trying to find recommendations from other people who had work done on their houses.
In the end, we ended up with a couple of decent quotes, and went with the one that seemed to be pretty good. The contractor told us it would be about a three week project. So we met with him and signed our contract to have the work done.
Things started out okay. We signed the papers on Monday, and by Thursday, the rooms had all been framed. Things looked optimistic. The sheetrocker was to come in on Friday and get started, which just happens to be my day off. He came over and dropped off his stuff late on Thursday, and told me when he would be there the following day.
So on Friday, I waited. And waited. And waited. No one showed up. No phone calls. I finally called the contractor, who said he would try to be in touch with the guy, and would let me know what was going on. But I didn't hear anything from either of them until Monday, when the contractor said that he still hadn't heard back from the guy. He gave a couple of possible excuses, none of which seemed to explain why the guy couldn't let us know that he wasn't coming.
Well, to make a rather lengthy story a bit shorter, the sheetrocker had ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg. Okay, a rather understandable reason not to show up for work. However, now it seemed like no one knew what to do next. We waited for him to get a little better, and he said that he would be by late the following week. Well, that time came and went, still with no phone calls, mind you. Finally, toward the middle of the second week, he finally seemed to feel that he should have one of his part time workers come over and at least get the sheetrock hung. The young man worked hard, and three short work days later, the sheetrock was hung.
However, then it was time to wait for the sheetrocker to do his next stage, taping and mudding the walls. Well, if you haven't guessed by now, it took at least another week before all of this was finally done. What had originally been outlined to us as a three week project had taken three weeks for sheetrock alone! And that wasn't even the end of the project.
My wife and I have been challenged in how we handle frustration throughout this process. I will not say it has been easy, especially with her going through the later stages of pregnancy. Even though I am typically a fairly patient and understanding guy, I have to admit that the whole process has been a challenge even to me.
This seems like one of those times when God has seemed to decide that I needed to face something like this to learn about myself, and to grow as His child. My hope is that He has taught me how to be Christ-like, even when things are not going as I had hoped or planned. Or maybe, at the very least, He has taught me about what my expectations should be if I ever need housework done in the future!
About two months ago, we made the decision to finish the three rooms in our house that were unfinished. They were our laundry room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. We had never gone through a project like this before, and didn't know many people who did this kind of work. So we started from scratch, calling around to get quotes and trying to find recommendations from other people who had work done on their houses.
In the end, we ended up with a couple of decent quotes, and went with the one that seemed to be pretty good. The contractor told us it would be about a three week project. So we met with him and signed our contract to have the work done.
Things started out okay. We signed the papers on Monday, and by Thursday, the rooms had all been framed. Things looked optimistic. The sheetrocker was to come in on Friday and get started, which just happens to be my day off. He came over and dropped off his stuff late on Thursday, and told me when he would be there the following day.
So on Friday, I waited. And waited. And waited. No one showed up. No phone calls. I finally called the contractor, who said he would try to be in touch with the guy, and would let me know what was going on. But I didn't hear anything from either of them until Monday, when the contractor said that he still hadn't heard back from the guy. He gave a couple of possible excuses, none of which seemed to explain why the guy couldn't let us know that he wasn't coming.
Well, to make a rather lengthy story a bit shorter, the sheetrocker had ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg. Okay, a rather understandable reason not to show up for work. However, now it seemed like no one knew what to do next. We waited for him to get a little better, and he said that he would be by late the following week. Well, that time came and went, still with no phone calls, mind you. Finally, toward the middle of the second week, he finally seemed to feel that he should have one of his part time workers come over and at least get the sheetrock hung. The young man worked hard, and three short work days later, the sheetrock was hung.
However, then it was time to wait for the sheetrocker to do his next stage, taping and mudding the walls. Well, if you haven't guessed by now, it took at least another week before all of this was finally done. What had originally been outlined to us as a three week project had taken three weeks for sheetrock alone! And that wasn't even the end of the project.
My wife and I have been challenged in how we handle frustration throughout this process. I will not say it has been easy, especially with her going through the later stages of pregnancy. Even though I am typically a fairly patient and understanding guy, I have to admit that the whole process has been a challenge even to me.
This seems like one of those times when God has seemed to decide that I needed to face something like this to learn about myself, and to grow as His child. My hope is that He has taught me how to be Christ-like, even when things are not going as I had hoped or planned. Or maybe, at the very least, He has taught me about what my expectations should be if I ever need housework done in the future!
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