It's Just Carpet. But Not Really.

When we moved into #TheHouseThatFaithBuilt, we had some serious carpet issues! We had mold and dirt and massive stains covering the carpet in the bedrooms, upstairs hallway and the staircase. The first few weeks we all slept in the rooms that had hardwood because my germaphobe tendencies wouldn't allow our beds to enter the rooms with carpet until it was replaced. It took me about 3 days to tear out the old carpet with just a few tools from Home Depot. I purchased a carpet knife and a bar to pull out the old carpet. It comes out super easily and is a great way to save about $400! We were really excited about the carpet that we had selected to replace it and thought that the price for 4 rooms was pretty good. On the day that we went in to place the order we had a big surprise! Not the good kind either...the price was almost $1000 more than we originally expected because of my own mathematical error... uhh... who let me do the math anyway?

So, Jason and I stood there and looked at other carpets that would be closer to our budget and found one that we liked enough and placed the order. I pretty much immediately had buyers remorse and wished we could cancel the order. The purchase felt rushed and I wasn't sure we made the right decision on the color selection. I occupied my mind with other household jobs and decided that its just carpet. If the carpet doesn't meet my expectations then oh well! Hello, Audra... you have children and this carpet will likely get ruined!

One of my favorite things that we have done to this house won't be seen by anyone else but it is felt so so deeply by us. After we ripped out the old carpet we covered our sub-flooring in Bible verses that we had picked out for each of our children. Joey even selected a verse for his sister and for us and wrote them in Sharpie in each bedroom.

Joey wrote this verse on our master bedroom floor. Hope he remembers that "training" is what I am doing when he gets in trouble....

When it came time for the carpet to be installed, we were so excited! After going 3 weeks without carpet and pretty much all sleeping in the same room, the day finally arrived! Of course, I was nervous about the carpet color but when it arrived, it was PERFECT! I think I like it even more than the original, more expensive carpet that we had picked!

But guys, I didn't sit down in my office today to blog about carpet colors. When the carpet installation team showed up that Monday morning speaking English and Spanish, I could just tell. I could hear it in their voices, they were from Honduras. Trying not to be rude and excitedly blurt out, "ARE YOU FROM HONDURAS?!" I just went on with casually showing them around the house and the rooms that would need carpet. I asked if they would please begin with the master bedroom and showed the man where it was. Stopping dead in his tracks as he saw the scripture covering our sub-flooring, he asked me what this was all about. I explained to him what we did and why we did it and he was holding back tears. A stranger, in my house, about to cry... He said, "I was just telling my cousin this morning on our way here about Jesus and telling him that he needs to give his life to the Lord and then we show up to this house. Now only Jesus can do that!"

Okay, so now we're both tearing up... in my bedroom. Not weird at all...

After a few minutes of talking he said, "Thank you for talking to a stranger from Honduras. I'm sure you have better things to do."

And now I'm so excited and trying not to just hug this man that I have known for all of 5 minutes. I told him about our mission trips to Honduras and how much we love his people and this tiny village of Pinelejo.

And then, he takes my hand and said, "Pinelejo. I know this village." He had grown up in Quimistan, just minutes from where we stay. I mean, divine intervention via carpeting! Guys, if we can find Grace in Sandwich Bags, we can find Him anywhere. Are you looking for Him?

Leo, our sweet carpet installer worked tirelessly for 6 hours installing our carpet with his cousin that day while blasting worship music through each room. To say that my expectations in our carpeting were surpassed would be a huge understatement!

I did what any good member of Dream Big Honduras would do... I made them some of Honduran Coffee that we brought back from our last trip and tipped him well. Oh, and Penny.... she LOVES the new carpet and keeps asking when our "carpet friends" can come back over to visit. :)