Last week the appraisal for my Sunnyshore Studio project came it. The (future) studio and property appraised at 340K, but because it is a “different” kind of building, and not a traditional single family residence, my bank will give me a mortgage of 70% of the loan. That means that I have to bring 60K of cash to the closing, cash that I don’t have. So in God’s providence, we will first need to sell our home in Indy before we have the cash flow necessary to pull the trigger on building the studio.
Meanwhile, I spent a few hours trimming my hedge on my property on Camano. I began this hedge 10 years ago to create a visual and sound shield from the road. It is a “collage” hedge, with different kinds of trees and bushes growing together. I have two cedar trees growing fast which will someday tower above the hedge. And there are an assortment of bushes and trees which I forget the names of, except one, a lilac bush, each bearing its own unique beauty.
Yesterday I took my first Sabbath since moving to Redmond. Up till now Jenny and I have been just trying to keep our heads above water with paperwork, new schools and schedules, and trying to get our feet under us in our work.
Sabbath is a rich word, mostly forgotten by my generation, but treasured by those who know its meaning. Sabbath is a rhythm of rest, of remembering, of being rooted in reality. It doesn’t mean sitting around and being lazy. It means doing the things outside of your everyday work that make your heart sing.
Yesterday morning after dropping the kids off at school, Jenny drove me to John and Joyce Sanford’s home in Woodinville so I could borrow Joyce’s car and so that Jenny could have a car to pick our kids up.
Then I headed north to Camano Island. My first stop was in Stanwood at the Snow Goose Bookstore. I shared with Kristine that I was a local boy, having grown up on the Island, and had come home and had written a children’s book about fishing with my dad, which my dad and I had illustrated. I told her it was coming out in December and asked if I could have a book signing in December. She looked skeptical until she found out my dad was Jack Dorsey and then she said it was a wonderful idea, and she loved his work, and why don’t we plan for a book signing on Saturday, December 5th.
Then I stopped by the Stanwood Camano News. I asked the receptionist who I should talk to because I have a very big story for the newspaper. She asked if it was local news, or sports, or what. I told her it was Art and Culture News. So she gave me the name of Sarah A. who I will follow up with later.
Then it was on to the Island, this place of my early years, this place I love: the smells of the fir, the wetness, the Cascades across the bay, I feel it as home deep in my bones.
Of course, my destination was mom and dad’s house. Dad was out with buddies golfing. So I got to spend some time with mom.
She has fallen and broken a couple of bones in her shoulder so she is in a sling and she needed me to pull her socks on. I’m not a very good nurse but it was nice to help, and that kind of help of mom is precisely why I came home.
And as I mentioned above, I spent the late morning and early afternoon trimming the hedge. Then a yummy lunch with mom. This afternoon, I have some details to follow up in regard to getting my well in shape, and my Sunnyshore Studio project.
To have a whole day set aside for these things, things different and apart from my regular work, things that remind me who I am and root me in my calling, this is Sabbath rest. And this is how appraisals, hedges, and sabbaths come together in my mind. In God’s creation, we are given time to work and rest, and we wait on God too, for His timing, for his purposes to be played out in our lives. Work and rest all to His glory.
