Except the Lord build the house,

i was just discussing with PP whether the home building process ought to be discussed on the blog. firstly, it involves our privacy and secondly, the last thing i want is to end up flaunting a showroom. oh, how i always struggle with pride. nonetheless, on reflection, God has been INCREDIBLY good to us. i need to record all these blessings down and to share them as a testimony of God's goodness to us! i definitely hope our experience can be a testimony of how moving house is not THAT daunting, and yes, you can have a baby while doing so ;) all because we have a heavenly Father who takes care of us and watches over our every need :)

before we got our keys, i was scared to bits, yet thrilled at the same time. the date of completion appears to be so near (too near!) the arrival of baby Ezra. Psalm 127 offered special comfort. It seems to address every single worry i had, whether it be the house, my difficulty in sleeping, even the growth of Ezra. 

Except the LORD build the house,they labour in vain that build it:

except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late,

to eat the bread of sorrows: forso he giveth his beloved sleep.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed,

but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

 

Except the LORD build the house.....

How true! If God was not in this home-building process, everything would just crumble.  

the first blessing God sent our way was a wonderful contractor. after comparing quotes, we realised that engaging an ID would definitely ease the process, but was so much more costly. it also seemed like more often than not, we were telling the ID what we wanted. hence, with some fear and trembling, we started scouring around for contractors, looking for contacts from friends and even online. amazingly, God led us to a contact (gotten online!). we saw his handiwork, liked it, studied his quote, found him fatherly and experienced, and decided that he was the one! he was not the cheapest option, but in construction, what you pay is more often than not, what you get :) 

Mr L (the contractor) and Mr A (the carpenter) are very very amicable and easy to work with. they speak mandarin, but are clearly savvy with what needs to be done, offering suggestions for improvement on the way. can you believe they were more efficient than us? they started work even before we expected them too! 

on hindsight, if you were to ask me whether a contractor or ID is better, I would say, go for a contractor if you already know what you want. If you have in mind the colours you like and how you would like to plan your space, a contractor can easily fulfill your expectations as long as you are clear, you show him pictures, and constantly double check if he has understood your concept. PP and i use pinterest alot and we pin all our favourite ideas and designs so they are easily accessible when we try to explain what we have in mind. An ID would help you conceptualise and create a mood for your house, show you 3D drawings, add some design-y touches, bring you furniture shopping, but the hidden cost would mean forfeiting a full-length cabinet, or a nice platform ;) we decided to go for the more prudent option, and definitely have no regrets! thank God for His providence :) Here's the start of our journey!

we entered the house and were surprised that aircon piping had proceeded, followed by hacking of walls. yes, these are probably the ugliest photos ever on this blog, but they are heart-warming sights. the mess proved to us that work had started, in God's good timing, way earlier than we expected! :) 

I'd love to share Mr L's contact with you. email me if you're interested :)