It has been a busy time here the past few weeks. Robin and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary in July, and our daughters are hosting a party ... at our house. For the past several weeks, we have been renovating our kitchen with the help of my in-laws.
Two weeks ago, we ripped out the tile, put up new drywall where needed, and my father-in-law rebuilt some of our cabinets. My mother-in-law re-upholstered our kitchen chairs. This past weekend, we put in laminated flooring. This week, we are painting and putting up wallpaper.
We have ordered new counter tops and a sink, and with any luck, they will be in before the anniversary party.
The changes we have made are remarkable, and have completely changed the look of the kitchen. It will be a beautiful, cozy kitchen when all the work is done. It really will be the best kitchen we could possibly have given the constraints of time, budget, and other resources. I was reluctant to try to do so much in so little time. I didn't think we could actually get it done. In truth, I didn't have the courage to make the changes that have needed to be made for so many years.
My in-laws have moved in with us while the work is being done, and it has put a crimp into my podcast recording schedule. I have found that I am quite self-conscious when recording my podcasts early in the morning. Whether it is because I don't want to wake them, or because I don't want them to hear me repeating the same passage over and over, I couldn't say. All I know is that I won't be able to get back to recording the podcasts until after they have returned to their home.
So, in the meantime, I have been going through a final proof of "Jabez: Conceived in Pain, Delivered in Victory", and I am glad I did. I have found and corrected about 20 different spots. These were all minor things that either didn't get caught in editing or were introduced when I was applying my editor's fixes.
In some cases, the changes were so minor as to be almost unnoticeable, except by the most picky of readers. For example, in one spot, I had written, "... the Philistines battle wagons ...". As a few of you might notice, I need an apostrophe after "Philistines". Really minor, but important.
In another place, I wrote, "... only more body remained ...", when it should have been, "... only one more body remained ...". This must be a really gripping chapter, because not one person had caught the missing word. My super-picky editor missed it, my picky test-readers missed it, and more importantly, I missed it, even though I have read, re-read, and re-re-read that chapter more times than I can count. Within the context of the chapter -- or perhaps the way the sentence fell on the page -- the mind must have filled in the missing word.
So, although the changes were minor, they were all important. Could the book stand on its own without the changes? Of course it could. But I am glad I had the courage to make the changes, because, without them, the book just wouldn't be the best it could be.
So, changes without, changes within. All in all, everything fits together. The work on the kitchen led to my in-laws staying with us, which led to my inability to record the podcast episodes, which led to a final proofreading of the actual, printed book rather than a manuscript, which will lead to my applying for an ISBN number so you will be able to purchase the book wherever books are sold.
Changes without, changes within. Major improvements, minor improvements.
May you also improve in all you do. May you have the courage to make the changes that you can.
Peace.
Bob
Two weeks ago, we ripped out the tile, put up new drywall where needed, and my father-in-law rebuilt some of our cabinets. My mother-in-law re-upholstered our kitchen chairs. This past weekend, we put in laminated flooring. This week, we are painting and putting up wallpaper.
We have ordered new counter tops and a sink, and with any luck, they will be in before the anniversary party.
The changes we have made are remarkable, and have completely changed the look of the kitchen. It will be a beautiful, cozy kitchen when all the work is done. It really will be the best kitchen we could possibly have given the constraints of time, budget, and other resources. I was reluctant to try to do so much in so little time. I didn't think we could actually get it done. In truth, I didn't have the courage to make the changes that have needed to be made for so many years.
My in-laws have moved in with us while the work is being done, and it has put a crimp into my podcast recording schedule. I have found that I am quite self-conscious when recording my podcasts early in the morning. Whether it is because I don't want to wake them, or because I don't want them to hear me repeating the same passage over and over, I couldn't say. All I know is that I won't be able to get back to recording the podcasts until after they have returned to their home.
So, in the meantime, I have been going through a final proof of "Jabez: Conceived in Pain, Delivered in Victory", and I am glad I did. I have found and corrected about 20 different spots. These were all minor things that either didn't get caught in editing or were introduced when I was applying my editor's fixes.
In some cases, the changes were so minor as to be almost unnoticeable, except by the most picky of readers. For example, in one spot, I had written, "... the Philistines battle wagons ...". As a few of you might notice, I need an apostrophe after "Philistines". Really minor, but important.
In another place, I wrote, "... only more body remained ...", when it should have been, "... only one more body remained ...". This must be a really gripping chapter, because not one person had caught the missing word. My super-picky editor missed it, my picky test-readers missed it, and more importantly, I missed it, even though I have read, re-read, and re-re-read that chapter more times than I can count. Within the context of the chapter -- or perhaps the way the sentence fell on the page -- the mind must have filled in the missing word.
So, although the changes were minor, they were all important. Could the book stand on its own without the changes? Of course it could. But I am glad I had the courage to make the changes, because, without them, the book just wouldn't be the best it could be.
So, changes without, changes within. All in all, everything fits together. The work on the kitchen led to my in-laws staying with us, which led to my inability to record the podcast episodes, which led to a final proofreading of the actual, printed book rather than a manuscript, which will lead to my applying for an ISBN number so you will be able to purchase the book wherever books are sold.
Changes without, changes within. Major improvements, minor improvements.
May you also improve in all you do. May you have the courage to make the changes that you can.
Peace.
Bob
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