Lessons in Cement

Last fall we started the finish coat of stucco on our house. I LOVED the new look. It was wonderful. I am so blessed to have such a talented husband! Well this spring, we've continued on with the project, this time finishing the parging in a dark grey color. My husband and son worked together on the project...

Before: There is a little bit of black in the corner, but this is what it
looked like before the parging was done.

First layer of the parging is on!

Now adding the texture. Myles
supplies the cement for his dad.

The finishing work being done!

There it is. This side of the house is done!!!

Now when we did the white last year there was one small wall we weren't able to do because it needed a new window following the nasty hail damage we underwent. So this spring we were able to get that done as well...

There it is. we still have to paint the trim. We ran out of stain so
it didn't get done at the time it was put on. However, it is
sure good to have that wall done too!

Since it was such a small wall, we had a little bit of white left over so we went into the back yard and used it up there...

Our shed has been scratch coat grey for a few years
and we decided to give it a face lift!

There it is! One finished wall!!!

I love what my husband has been able to do this spring. We have made so many changes and improvements! Things are coming together so nicely and my garden sanctuary is even more enjoyable for the whole family now.

There is such joy in the process of work. It feels so good to do a job well and get it done! I love that our children are involved in these projects and take ownership in the improvements that are made. It is so healthy to be able to see your progress and find joy in it.

I love cement as a creative medium - however, it is not a forgiving medium to use. I remember several years ago, when we poured the footings for our house and had some cement left over... rather than just dumping it off somewhere, we made two sections of sidewalk. Now at that point, we hadn't done any landscaping or anything, so we just placed the forms for the sidewalk where we thought we wanted them in relation to the doors on the house. I remember the cement fellow telling us, "Remember, once it's there, it's permanent. You can't move it." Fortunately for us, we haven't had to move those chunks of cement, though we did have to level one..  Since that time we've worked with cement in a number of ways and when you have to rip it out, or off, or move it, it is a bear of a job!


Sometimes in life we are tempted to cement or encase hard feelings toward others into our belief system. When this temptation occurs, it is important to remember what that cement guy told us in the beginning... "Remember, it's permanent!" Hard, cement like, feelings don't have to be permanent, but like cement, they take a lot of work to remove. May we always choose to cement beautiful thoughts, feelings and truths into our lives. Doing so, will give us a face life much like that of my home - it is literally transformed! What a joy it is to see that change, not just in my home, but also in the lives of those who mean the most to me.