Writing Scripture on support beams of new construction

Hi, friends! With the Thanksgiving holiday and a replenishing visit with my people under my belt, I’m trying to tiptoe back into normalcy this week, starting with sharing some photos of the new house today–only these pictures might not be what you expect.

Jeff and I had the chance to visit Huntsville last month–just the two of us. As you might imagine, visiting our under-construction home was high on our list of priorities while we were in town. Unfortunately, by the time our flight landed the sun had just set so we didn’t get a good glimpse of the house that first night. We, however, weren’t deterred. Armed with two iPhone flashlights and one Sharpie, we made like vandals and snuck into the framed house with one goal in mind: we wanted to “tag” the support beams.

Long before even the first footing was placed on our lot, we asked God to anoint the land with his favor and blessing. It seemed only natural, then, to invite him further in by writing Scripture on the support beams of the house once it was framed, before the drywall was hung. On the plane, we had put our heads and hearts together in an effort to come up with fitting Scripture for each room. The idea was borrowed from Pinterest, but we wanted to make sure that the Scripture was personally chosen and applied. I have no doubt that we looked every bit the part of suspicious hooligans, tiptoeing into the house under cover of darkness with our flashlight beams shining out from the open windows.

We started downstairs in the breakfast nook and quickly found that–even with a Sharpie–writing neatly and cleanly on exposed wood is no easy task, especially when you’re nervous that you’re going to get busted for trespassing at any moment. In any case, we chose this verse for the breakfast nook because I pictured my kids (as well as current and future grandkids) gathering in this space for meals. I want their sticky little maple syrup mouths and hands to reflect the fruit of the spirit.

From there we moved on to the dining room. The verse we chose for this room has a history with us. Our house here in Arizona had this verse printed on the dining room wall in Italian.

Our Alabama house has a room just off the kitchen that they call a “keeping room”. The term stems from Colonial times when families used to sleep in small rooms just off the kitchen on cold nights so as to be near to the warmth of the stove. Jeff chose to put a benediction on the support beam here.

Because we anticipate hosting Bible study groups in our future great room, we chose a verse about God’s presence in our midst.

We chose for the entryway an encouraging promise from Psalms.

Next, we moved to the study. I’ve yet to see the movie War Room, but I’ve already decided that in the new house, the study is going to be our own war room. It’s where we’ll gather with chai lattes on chilly mornings as we pour over God’s word. There will be a lot of prayer taking place all over the house, but I suspect that much of it will start here.

One of the most exciting things about the new house is the mud room. I am SO looking forward to having a place where the kids can plop backpacks, coats and shoes when they come home from school or activities. For this room, we wanted a verse that speaks to the refuge we have in our Savior.

I chose for the laundry/utility room an earnest reminder.

The one we chose for the pantry is a personal favorite of ours. We love it because it gives insight to God’s character as a stern, but always loving, Father.

The master bedroom is another place where we’ll do a lot of praying. For that room, we chose two verses and wrote them above the spot where our bed will be.

The second one includes a drawn replica of the tattoo Jeff has beneath his wedding ring. We love this verse because it talks about two being stronger than one, but then Jesus makes a sneaky appearance as a third strand in that second sentence.

The master bedroom of the new house has two–yes, his and hers!!–closets. We were running out of steam by the time we came to my closet but Jeff chose one for his. Before he wrote it, he placed his open palm against the frame so that he’d remember the spot and then he penned a verse from 1 Corinthians. He intends to pause for a minute each morning and place his palm on that spot after he gets dressed–a simple reminder before he starts the day.

You’ll notice the brick behind the wood in the photo above. There’s a good reason for that. In the new house, Jeff’s closet doubles as a safe room should there be a tornado. With that in mind, we chose a second verse for this space.

I chose a verse for the spot behind his vanity mirror.

And he chose one for mine.

For the boy’s room, we chose something from Ephesians. He’s familiar with it because I pray this one over him at bedtime.

And for the girl’s room, I chose a truth that reaffirms who she is.

The guest room.

Last but not least is the bonus room upstairs. This is to be an Arizona Cardinals themed room where we’ll watch the games on a big screen. With those games in mind, Jeff got a little cheeky with the verse he chose for this room.

We returned to the house the next day to meet with the construction manager. We were a little early for the meeting and so we walked from room to room and prayed in each space while we waited. Soon enough the guy we were waiting on showed up and after walking through the house asked, “So…the Scripture on the beams. Was that you guys?”

Yep. We totally got called out.

It was worth it.