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Mark Eastman

Poor Communication is the Number One Reason for Disagreements, Part 2

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Written Communication is Really the Only Way to Avoid This Problem

I have written multiple times about communication and the problems that come from the lack of communication. Most of the time this has been focused on communication between construction contractors and customers. This is certainly a problem, but can also be a problem between general contractors and subs.

Whether it’s subcontractors or customers, the communication responsibility lies with the general contractor.

Verbal communication leaves too many things open to interpretation.

Several years ago, a partner and I were meeting with a customer early in the process of building a new home. The customer pointed out that the distance from the electric meter to the house was more than the 50’ allowance, as per the written proposal.

He asked if this was a problem. My partner told him that it wasn’t a problem. Guess what…

It was a problem.

The problem didn’t surface until later when the customer was billed for the additional 100’. After some “digging”, the communication breakdown was uncovered.

The customer asked, “if it was a problem”. What he really was asking was…”is it going to cost more?”. 

My partner’s response in reality was, “we can dig the additional 100’, but it will cost you three times as much as the 50’ allowance in the proposal”. But this isn’t what was said.

Neither of them intended nor expected this to be a problem. It was a simple matter of misunderstanding…a lack of communication.

Communication is, …the exchange of information and the expression of feelings that result in understanding.

Understanding is the tricky part.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reminded of the importance of communication with subcontractors as well as customers. When I had a situation where I hired a sub to do a bathroom remodel that I had never used.

He came with a couple of positive recommendations.

After talking with him on the phone, I sent him a scope of work and before and after drawings. He gave me a verbal price range over the phone. The high end of his price was in line with my budget.

I asked him if he would get me something in writing.

We met at the job site later that week on Friday and physically looked at the project. It so happened that he had a crew that could start the following Monday and have the job done ahead of schedule. This was important because the bathroom that was getting remodeled was the only one they had. Again, I asked for something in writing. Again, he assured me that his price was still good.

He showed up on time and things progressed on schedule. They got the demo done quickly and got the customer a shower back within a few days. Things were going well.

There also was some moisture damage that was unknown when we started. This meant I needed to give the customer a change order for this additional work. I called the sub to get a price. He said the way things were going, it should still be close to the high-end price he had given me previously.

I prepared a change order for the customer based on the extra work and felt that should be sufficient to cover the subcontractor.

When it was all said and done the subcontractor’s bill was almost $4,000 more than he told me or what I had budgeted. On top of that he was unwilling to negotiate a settlement somewhere in the middle.

Surprise! I should have gotten something in writing.

Looking back, I should have pushed back more and gotten something in writing. But I was looking out for the customers and the subs availability. The speed with which they said they could do the work swayed me to move forward without anything written down.

I know that small and midsized contractors don’t like to spend the time and effort to do paperwork.

I understand, it takes time. The question we should ask is this…

Is it better to spend the time communicating before the project starts or wait until there’s a problem and everybody’s upset?

I understand that details and information take time, but I think it’s essential to good communication.

I knew better and can’t blame anyone but myself for being in this situation.

Even though I had the tools I needed to avoid this situation I didn’t use them. If you don’t open the toolbox and get the tools out, they can’t help you build your company.

Most construction contractors don’t have the tools they need for building a better business. That’s why we’re in the process of filling up a toolbox with tools to help you build the construction company of your dreams.

Whether it’s proposals, contracts, change orders, progress payments, or having money to pay your taxes, there’s a tool for it. We also plan to offer instructions, coaching, and consulting to help you learn to use these tools.

If you have questions and would like to find out if these tools would be a good fit for you, you can schedule a free consultation here.

Poor communication is the number one reason for disagreements. Avoid disagreements by taking the time to get the tools needed to avoid costly miscommunication.

Peter Becomes Bold and We Need to Do the Same

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The First Next Step in Building God’s Kingdom Here on Earth

Last week we discussed Jesus’ earthly journey coming to an end and how Peter got scared and denied knowing Jesus. Admitting to knowing and following Jesus can be a scary thing still for us today.

I also told you that Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story…just the beginning. In Acts, Luke tells us how the followers of Jesus were scared and lost and didn’t know what to do.

They were feeling lost and wondering “where do we go from here?”.

This is something that is common for us still today. We wonder what to do, where to go, and how to get there.

As some of the followers were together, Jesus showed up and shared God’s plans for building His kingdom here on earth. (Acts 1:4-8) These plans are still the same today. Just like the followers of Jesus then, we have everything we need.

After Jesus finished giving them the instructions, He went up into the sky while they watched. (Acts 1:9-10) Then two men dressed in white told them that He would come back.

Then, when about 120 followers were meeting and praying, focused on a single purpose, the same Peter that had denied Jesus, stood up and began speaking. He shared how the Holy Spirit had told David about Judas and what would happen. (Acts 1:16-19) Peter went on to say that…

“We need to tell others that Jesus was raised from the dead.”

On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

Many religious Jews from every country in the world were in Jerusalem. And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. They were surprised because they were hearing everything in their own languages. They were excited and amazed, and they said:

“Don’t all these who are speaking come from Galilee? Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? We are from a lot of different places, yet we all hear them using our own languages telling us of the wonderful things God has done.”

Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?”

Others mocked the Lord’s followers and said, “They are drunk.” (Acts 2:1-13)

Then, the “not so scared” Peter stood up and spoke in a loud voice to the crowd. “You are wrong to think they are drunk, it is only 9:00 in the morning!” Then he told them what the prophet Joel had said about the Holy Spirit being given to everyone. (Acts 2:14-21) The followers continued meeting and worked together to build the church and God’s kingdom.

We are still presented with the opportunity to continue building God’s kingdom today.

We have everything we need to accomplish this. We have the Bible which is the blueprint for building God’s kingdom. We have the workforce, otherwise known as the church. This workforce provides all the different skills needed. We can communicate directly with the Architect through prayer.

Now like Peter, be bold and don’t be afraid to do your part in building God’s kingdom here on earth.

What is it About TOOLS That Building Contractors Love So Much?

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Wielding a Power Tool Gives Us a Sense of Control and Respect

Last week we discussed how to build the construction company of your dreams with a plan and the right tools. We talked about how scary it is to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. We also discussed how this plodding back and forth can get us stuck in a rut.

You need some powerful business building tools to help you get out of your rut.

The feeling of that power in our hands is amazing. We are in control, but the machine can never be tamed. We have to respect it, or we will regret it. We pretend to be in charge of the “power tool beast”, but we know better.

Power and control –

  • Power tools have the power to create. When the power tools come out, we have no idea what is about to happen. Every time we connect with that much electricity, a child-like excitement oozes from our pores.
  • Power tools have an untamed spirit that screams: “Anything can happen.” Turning on a generator makes you feel like you are The Generator. For a few minutes, you’re off the grid and in-charge. You have the power and can decide who you will bestow it upon.
  • Power tools let us pretend that we can do anything. Don’t fool yourself, your power tool is in charge! Just look at the sticker on your SAWZALL: “Warning this device is powerful and is capable of doing serious harm to your home, your person, or your entire way of life.

Meditate on the raw power, the Amps and the Volts. Be in awe and imagine where your power tools may take you.

This fascination with tools is very similar to the reason most guys would take almost any ridiculous “man challenge” for the promise of a gold sticker on their forehead and “buddy cred”.

“Hey, I bet you can’t crush that can with your head!” Sound familiar?

Hopefully, most of us are smarter than this.

As builders we love the rush we get from building something. That sense of accomplishment that comes from creating a dream home out of that stack of boards. Tools give us the power and control to do this.

A tool that is even more powerful than the biggest, meanest chop saw is the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal.

I know it doesn’t make as much noise or make your arm numb after using it all afternoon, but it’s a tool that will allow you to build your business into a skyscraper of success.

The hardest thing you will ever build is a business. The tools used for this kind of building are different than what we normally think of when thinking tools.

During my forty plus years of building my business, I’ve continually worked to achieve and maintain a sense of control over my profit and build the successful company of my dreams.

Just like any other building project, it’s important to have tools and know which ones to use in specific applications. You wouldn’t use a cordless screw gun to saw a board, or a reciprocating saw to nail down a shingle.

You can saw a board with a hand saw or you can use a circular saw. We both know which is faster, easier, and makes more sense.

The same thing is true when building a business…you need to have the right tools.

Why is it that we builders are so stubborn when it comes to trying something new and different. Business building power tools sound too good to be true.

You can use the old school “guesstimation” method or you could use the new and improved Building a Better Proposal power tool.

It’s important to have the right tools for the job.

Maybe you uncover some termite damage, or your customer decides after the project has started that they would like to do some additional work.

These kinds of things happen on construction projects quite often. This presents you with the option of moving forward without giving your customer a price or preparing a change order.

I know it’s another one of those uncomfortable “get out of the rut” kind of situations.

What if there was a power tool for preparing a change order…oh that’s right, there is! It’s called Building a Better Change Order.

These are just two of the power tools that will be available for you in the digital Business BUILDing Toolbox. We plan to have these tools and more available later this month.

If you or someone you know would like to feel the power of a tool that provides control for building a successful construction business, while respecting that power without regret…stay tuned for updates on when we open the lid on the Business BUILDing Toolbox.

If you have questions about how these business building power tools could help you build the business of your dreams, you can schedule a free 30-minute consultation here.

Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus…What Are You Going to Say?

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Going Through the Last Days of Jesus’ Life

Sorry about being a day late getting this post published. I would like to blame it on this being a short holiday week, but that wouldn’t be totally true. The short week may have played a small part, but it’s more to do with simply being busy.

The past several weeks we’ve been going through the Book of Luke. This week we finish up Luke going through chapters 22-24.

In these chapters, Jesus’ journey is coming to an end, and these things take place –  

  • Judas betrays Jesus.
  • Jesus shares the Passover with His disciples.
  • Pilate and Herod look for a way to set Jesus free.
  • The people want the murderer Barabbas set free instead of Jesus.
  • The sun stops shining for hours during the middle of the day.
  • The curtain in the Temple is torn in two.
  • Jesus is killed.
  • Jesus is buried.
  • Jesus returns and appears to His disciples.
  • Jesus opens their minds to understand.

There are a lot of people involved in the chapters.

  • Judas – Satan enters Judas (Luke 22:3), and he goes to the chief priests and the officers of the church to help them arrest Jesus. Satan couldn’t come into Judas’ heart without Judas letting him in. Judas had to allow this. The same is true for Jesus. He won’t come in if we don’t let Him. Just like Judas, this is a choice that is ours to make.
  • Peter – Jeus is telling His disciples that they will be tested. (Luke 22:31-34) Peter tells Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to jail and even to die with you.” Jesus replied, “Peter, I tell you that before a rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” You know the rest of the story. After Jesus is arrested and Peter is standing in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. (Luke 22:54-65) Just like Peter, this is a choice that is ours to make.
  • Pilate and Herod – Neither of these men thought Jesus was guilty or deserved to be put to death. They weren’t willing to stand up against the people and set Him free. (Luke 23:1-23) Pilate and Herod were persuaded by the culture. Just like Pilate and Harrod, the choice to let culture persuade us is ours to make.
  • Barabbas – Upon the demanding of the people, the guilty Barabbas was released in place of Jesus. He was forgiven for his wrongdoing and set free. Then the innocent Jesus was killed on the cross in his place. (Luke 23:24-25) There are some that believe that after this Barabbas became a follower of Jesus. This is the same thing Jesus does for us. Just like Barabbas, Jesus paid for our wrongdoings and it’s our choice whether to follow Jesus or not.
  • Simon – As Jesus was being led away, some soldiers grabbed Simon of Cyrene and made him carry Jesus’ cross. This was not Simon’s cross. For all we know Simon may not even knew who Jesus was, but yet he carried Jesus’ cross for Him. (Luke 23:26) This is what Jesus will do for us. He will carry our cross.
  • Men on the cross on either side of Jesus – There were two criminals nailed to the crosses on either side of Jesus. One of them was insulting Jesus by saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and save us!” But the other criminal told the first one off, “Aren’t you getting the same punishment as this man? We got what was coming to us, but he didn’t do anything wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me.” Jesus replied, “I promise that today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:32-43) Just like the criminal, we just need to ask Jesus and we can be in paradise with Him.
  • Joseph – Joseph was a church leader from Arimathea and member of the council but did not agree with what was decided. He believed in Jesus and was looking forward to God’s kingdom coming. Joseph went to Pilate and asked if he could take Jesus’ body down and bury it. He wrapped Jesus’ body in fine cloth and put it in his tomb that had never been used. (Luke 23:50-53) The fact that no other bodies had been buried there makes the empty tomb a big deal. Joseph believed and acted on that belief. Just like Joseph, we need to believe and act on that belief.
  • The women – On the day after the Sabbath the women prepared spices for Jesus’ burial. When they got there the tomb was empty. Suddenly, two men in shining white clothes stood beside them. The men tell the women that Jesus is risen and is not there. (Luke24:1-12) In that time women were seen as second-class citizens. This is partly why the apostles did not believe them until they went and looked for themselves. Just like the women, sometimes people won’t believe you but we still need to share the truth anyway.
  • Cleopas – Two of Jesus’ followers were walking and talking about what had happened. Jesus joined them and asked what they were talking about. With sadness in his voice, Cleopas answered, “You must be the only person from Jerusalem who doesn’t know what’s happened over the past few days.” “What do you mean?”, asked Jesus. They told Him the whole story and then Jesus asked them, “Why can’t you understand?” They asked Jesus to stay with them and when they sat down to eat Jesus broke some bread and He disappeared. The two men went back to tell the others what they had seen. (Luke 24:13-49) Just like the Cleopas, if we listen and learn, our eyes will be open to Jesus.

We are all these people. We are Barabbas. We are set free even though we don’t deserve it.

This isn’t the end of the story. Just like Peter’s story doesn’t end with his denying Jesus.  Our story is still being written. Remember the tomb is empty.

We’ve come to the end of Luke and now we’re going into Luke volume two…Acts.

The book of Acts picks up where Luke left off, providing us with a front row seat to the birth of the church, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the spreading of the Gospel and the growth of the church.

How to Build the Construction Company of Your Dreams

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It’s Like Building Anything…You Need a Plan and the Right Tools

Labor Day is coming up on Monday. It’s the only Monday holiday that I don’t work. Actually, there are only three holidays each year that I don’t work. Those being Christmas, New Years Day and Labor Day.

I celebrate Christmas because it is the day we honor our Savior’s birth. The other two are days that our family has celebrated together as far back as I can remember.

This sounds like I’m a workaholic. And yes, I’m a recovering workaholic, but…

It’s easy to be a workaholic when you love the work you do.

On the other hand, working a lot of long hours and not having anything to show for it can feel like drudgery. It’s like being stuck in a rut without a way out. I’ve heard it said that “A rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out.”

Owning and operating a construction company can feel this way. We get in a rut and don’t even realize where we are. Plodding back and forth going through the daily routines of operating the business, never looking up to see where we are or where we’re going. If we’re not careful the rut will get so deep that we’ll never get out.

Change can be scary; it might not work. We know our rut, and we like it. “We’ve always done it this way”, isn’t a very good plan for building a better business. Too many construction companies find themselves in ruts, and “rut thinking” doesn’t allow for building your dream business.

So how do you get out of that rut and build the business you always dreamed of?

When you started your construction business you had this vision of how things would be, and I’ll bet that it hasn’t turned out at all like what you expected. This is something that I’ve seen way too many construction companies struggle with.

I know what it feels like because I went through it too.

That’s why early on in my business when I became aware of these issues, I decided to do something about it. I wanted to get out of the rut.

I began researching the problems and studying alternatives. Then I began to understand what was needed to get out of the rut. This is when I started building and designing business building tools that I could use to build the business of my dreams.

If you’re like I was and started your construction company with a dream and no plan, you probably find yourself stuck in a rut. Building a business is like building anything…if you don’t have a plan, it probably won’t turn out well.

After I understood what was needed, I designed and built business tools to help me build that business that I had dreamed of.

If you would like to build the construction business of your dreams but don’t want to spend the time and energy making your own tools…I have good news. At Solution Building we’re going to be offering our Business BUILDing tools and training to help you get out of the rut quicker and easier.

If you’d like to get out of your rut, check out our tools and systems to help you build the business of your dreams. complete with the 5-step business BUILDing process for implementing and learning to use them.

Becoming aware of the rut you’re stuck in is the first step to building the construction company of your dreams.

We Need to Build Our Lives on a Solid Foundation Using the Right Cornerstone

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The Problem is That Most Amateurs Think They Know More Than the Builder

As a builder I understand the importance of building on a solid foundation. Sure, it’s harder and takes more work than building on sand. Amateurs often look at the quicker, less expensive way of constructing. The problem is that the short-term gain isn’t worth the long-term cost.

The same is true for building the best life.

In Luke 6:47-49 Jesus tells us that listening and obey Him is like digging down and building our lives on solid rock. But anyone who hears what He says and doesn’t obey is building their life on sand. When the storms of life come, they will be washed away.

Over the past several weeks Pastor Lisa has been taking us through the book of Luke. This week’s message is focused on Luke 20-21.

Throughout the book of Luke, the Jewish leaders of the day were continually trying to trap Jesus.

The same is true in this week’s Scripture. In Luke 20:1-16 we see them once again questioning Jesus. They ask Him who gave John the right to baptize. Of course, He, being Jesus, knew what they were trying to do so he answered their question with a question. Either way they answered it was going to get them in trouble with somebody.

Jesus went on to tell a story about a man who owned a vineyard and had rented it out. When it was time to harvest, the owner sent a servant to pick up his share of the grapes. The renters beat him and sent him away without the owner’s share.

After having the same thing happen to a second servant, he sent his son. The renters, thinking they were smarter than the owner, decided to kill his son thinking that they would inherit the vineyard.

Jesus tells those listening that the owner will then have the renters put to death and rent the vineyard to someone else.

Like the renters in this story or the amateurs building on sand, we often think we’re smarter than God.

The people listening to this story were outraged at the renters and said, “This should never happen.” Jesus looked right at them and said, “Then what do the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘The stone the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all’? Anyone who stumbles over this stone will get hurt, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces.” (Luke 20:17-18)

Here we are, back to the importance of a solid foundation.

This most important stone that Jesus is referring to is called the cornerstone. A cornerstone is the first stone laid in a foundation. All other stones will be set, referencing the cornerstone to determine the position of the entire structure.

The Jews listening to Jesus would have had the Psalms memorized and would have immediately thought of Psalms 118:22 and the stone that the builders tossed aside.

This sounds a little like the renters above, doesn’t it?

We can choose to be like the renters and the amateur builders, or we can build our lives on a solid foundation using Jesus as our Cornerstone.

How Do I Decide What’s Most Important on My “To Do List”?

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Knowing This Could Be the Difference of Life and Death for Your Business

I’ve written on this topic of time management and prioritizing things a lot. This is because it is a big problem that can determine whether your company will live or die.

There are so many things trying to get on the “to do” list and each one is competing for the top position. Deciding which one should get that spot is tough. There are so many great and important things that we need or want to do.

It’s easy to say that we have limited time but hard to actually spend it that way.

My computer’s battery is not lasting as long as it was when it was brand new. Recently while working out of the office without the power cord, I had 2-3 things that I wanted to get done before the computer shut down. This limited time forced me to sort and prioritize.

How do we decide what to say yes to?

Emergency situations often require triage. This is the process of prioritizing patients’ treatments based on the severity of their condition and the resources available. In these situations, victims are divided into three categories.

  • Those who are likely to live, regardless of what care they receive.
  • Those who are unlikely to live, regardless of what care they receive.
  • Those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference in outcome.

These choices aren’t easy and often require a quick “gut decision”. A pre-determined system, training, and experience aid in the process and provide for the greatest number of survivors.

Another life and death choice is deciding who gets a transplant when there are a limited number of organ donations available. Take for example a set of twins who both need a liver transplant and their father has one liver to give. Which little girl gets it? The early thoughts of a father would be to give half to each. The problem with this, half wouldn’t help either. The final decision will be determined by which one needs it most or which one is most likely to survive.

Most of the choices that we make in business aren’t this critical…or are they? The decisions we make can mean life or death for our business.

In medical life or death situations there is a system and plan in place before hand. This same type of system should be implemented in our business. We should predetermine how we are going to choose the most important thing to the life of our business. This is where things get hard.

What makes one thing more important than another?

What should be the highest priority? Should it be production or proposals, record keeping or customer service, marketing, or staff? We’re faced with tough decisions in business every day.

I can’t answer this question for you, but if you’re tired of struggling with this dilemma, having the right business building tools can help you shorten your “triage” list going forward.

Having the right tools will give your business the highest chance for survival.

A Map is a Great Way to Figure Out Where to Go

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The Problem Is That It’s Much Harder to Get There if You Don’t Follow It

If you want to go from here to there, maps are a great way to figure out the route you want to take. They can show us the roads to drive, rivers that have to be crossed and mountains that we need to go around.

When giving directions if we say going up, we are referring to North on a map. Going down is South. Up and down directions when using a map aren’t about elevations.

Determining elevations with a map is hard. Even though you can see the drawings of rivers, plains, valleys, and mountains, it’s hard to get the full effect of the differences when looking at a flat piece of paper.

As we’ve been going through the book of Luke over the past several weeks, Jesus and His disciples have been traveling. Starting near the Sea of Galilee, they were going through portions of Samaria and headed to Jerusalem. Today’s adventure starts in Jericho which is near the Dead Sea.

It’s about seventeen miles from Jericho to Jerusalem on the map. What the map doesn’t show is the elevation difference. Jericho is 864’ BELOW sea level…Jerusalem is 2500’ ABOVE sea level. This is a 3364’ elevation change. This is almost ¾ of a mile up.

This unseen uphill elevation is going to make the journey harder than it appears on the map.

This is why it is important to read and study the whole map and not just look at the pictures. The information you need is there if you just use it.

The same thing is true for the Map for life, the Bible. Just looking at the popular stories and verses doesn’t give you the full picture. You need to read it and study it so you can be prepared for the elevation changes.

Going through this journey of life without even looking at the Map (Bible) is sure to make the adventure more difficult.

In this week’s portion of the Map (Luke 18) we are given a lot of valuable information for our journey.

We learn that –  

  • Like the widow’s persistence in going before the judge, if we pray day and night God will hear our prayers. (Luke 18:1-8)
  • Thinking too highly of ourselves and putting others down is not pleasing to God. This is shown to us in Luke 18:9-14 when the Pharisee prayed out loud how great he was and how greedy, dishonest and unfaithful the tax collector was. On the other hand, the tax collector only asked to be forgiven for his sins.
  • In Luke 18:18-30 our Life Map shows us how to get to Heaven in the example of the rich man who isn’t willing to put God ahead of his earthly wealth. We all have things that we do the same thing with. Whatever that thing is for you, you need to make it less important than God.

The Map doesn’t say it will be an easy journey, but it makes it clear it’s the right path.

  • The final directions given to us in Luke 18 are in verses 35-43. Here we are shown how having faith in Jesus will open our eyes. The blind beggar heard that Jesus was passing by. He shouted out to Jesus to give him his eyesight and his prayer was answered.

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, the disciples were having trouble believing what Jesus was telling them about His upcoming death. They believed that Jesus was the Savior, but His death was not their vision of how He would conquer the world.

The disciples’ hearts were in the right place, but their heads weren’t.

They finally figured it out after His death and resurrection.

They disciples had preconceived ideas and were having trouble focusing. In Sunday School, my sister compared this to when her son was a young boy. She would try to get him to focus on what she was telling him by putting her hands on each side of his face and getting him to look her in the eye. Then she knew she had his focused attention.

We need to make eye contact with God and give Him our focused attention.

Read and study the Life Map. Realize that there will be highs and lows. Life is not going to be a paper smooth journey, but it’s worth the effort.

How Can You Protect that Big Investment in Your Home?

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The Best Way is to Have a Home Maintenance Plan

It’s hot here in Kansas right now and doesn’t look like it will be cooling down any time soon. They’re predicting 100+ degree weather for the next several days. That makes me sweat just thinking about it.

Having said that…I realize that we’re just a few weeks away from fall, and it will be freezing before you know it. As I was thinking about this, I realized that it won’t be long before I need to be getting ready for winter.

It’s time to get the Home Maintenance Plan out.

Home maintenance – Prevents breakdowns, saves money, and keeps your home in the best possible condition. This regularly scheduled review can expose conditions that might not otherwise be found. This reduces mental, physical, and financial stress and strain.

Seasons happen every year and are a natural part of life. Each of these seasons presents different weather conditions and temperatures which affect your home in varying ways. We often use calendars to schedule our lives. Combining the seasons and our calendars into a Home Maintenance Checklist breaks a big responsibility into small manageable scheduled tasks.

It’s easy for the busy activities of everyday life to consume us, and home maintenance gets overlooked. This is why I prepared a Home Maintenance Plan and Check List. It’s available for free at our Solution Building website. Just follow the links, fill out the form, and download it for free.

This includes plans for monthly, quarterly, annual, and seasonal maintenance including a seasonal check list.

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE – These tasks should be done every month. You might prefer to schedule one day to do them all or spread them out over the month doing one or two items periodically throughout.

Monthly Maintenance includes things like –

  • Cleaning garbage disposals
  • Cleaning range hood filters
  • Inspecting fire extinguishers
  • Cleaning washing machines

QUARTERLY MAINTENANCE – These quarterly tasks, like the monthly ones, can be scheduled for one day each quarter or disbursed throughout the quarter at monthly, weekly, or other intervals. The important thing is to schedule them and do them.

Quarterly Maintenance includes things like –

  • Changing HVAC filters
  • Testing smoke/carbon monoxide detectors
  • Testing GFCI receptacles
  • Checking water softener salt levels

ANNUAL MAINTENANCE (By Season) – Annual tasks are more seasonal than monthly or quarterly. There is still some flexibility that can be determined by your own preference or life schedule. Some of them are not specific to the season but have been placed as they have, to spread more evenly throughout the year.

Annual Fall Maintenance includes things like –

  • Service central heating systems
  • Cover or removing window air conditioners
  • Closing or covering foundation vents
  • Cleaning out gutters
  • Cleaning out basement window wells
  • Turning off and flushing outdoor water faucets
  • Chimneys cleaned and inspected
  • Checking entry door and window hardware

Even this small portion of the complete Home Maintenance list can seem overwhelming. But like any big project, if you break it down into individual tasks, spread them out, and schedule them, it’s doable, like eating an elephant one bite at a time.

It’s a lot better to routinely do maintenance than wait until something falls apart.

That’s why home maintenance can help you preserve and protect that big investment of your home.

Get your free Home Maintenance Plan and Check List here.

Having Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed Can Move Mountains

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What Do One Sheep, One Coin, and Two Sons Have in Common?

This sounds like the start of a joke, doesn’t it. But in reality, there’s an important message here. Not that jokes can’t have important messages.

Jokes are a form of stories, and we can all relate to stories. Stories help us to see things from different perspectives or witness things when we aren’t even there. They can let us see things that we can’t physically see. They allow us feel things that we can relate to.

Jesus used stories to help us understand and relate to things.

As Pastor Lisa has been going through the Book of Luke, we’ve heard a lot of Jesus’ stories. This week was no different. These stories are commonly called parables.

A parable is an illustrative story, by which a familiar idea is cast beside an unfamiliar one in such a way that the comparison helps people to better understand or grasp the unfamiliar one. A simple story is told, certain features of which are similar or parallel to the points or principles one wishes to drive home.

Back to the one sheep, the one coin, and the two sons.

In Luke 15, Jesus is hanging out with a bunch of sinners (this would be all of us). And once again the Pharisees and teachers of the law are grumbling about this. Then He tells them a story about a single lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7) and the importance of finding it.

Then He tells them about a lady looking for one lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) and how she looks and looks until she finds it. Then she celebrates and the shares her excitement with her friends once it’s found.

We’ve all heard the story about the two sons, commonly called the “prodigal son”. (Luke 15:11-32) The younger son is given his share of his father’s money and after squandering it, comes back to be welcomed by his father. Then the older son is upset about him being welcomed home with a celebration.

We can all relate to the different people in these stories at different times.

Both sons in this last story made mistakes. Like the sons in this story, we’ve done stupid things as well. The father forgave both of his sons for their errors. One wasn’t better or more deserving of forgiveness than the other. Our Heavenly Father does the same for us.

In Luke it is clear that Jesus was looking for the least, the last, and the lost. From the first chapters until the end. Luke is always drawing attention to the ways in which, as Mary puts it in the Magnificat, God casts down the proud and lifts up the lowly. 

Forgiveness is something that we need to both give and ask for. It is one of the most powerful weapons we have. We need to forgive those who do not ask for forgiveness. Forgive those who criticize us unjustly. Forgive ourselves.

Forgiveness is a secret that is hidden in plain sight. It costs nothing and is worth millions. It is available to everyone and used by few. If you harness the power of forgiveness, you will be sought after and regarded highly. And not coincidentally, you will also be forgiven by others!” (6th Decision from The Traveler’s Gift)

It doesn’t matter who we are, we can be forgiven.

Forgiveness requires faith. We must have faith in God. We must have faith in others. We must have faith in ourselves. Having faith in ourselves is one of the hardest things to do.

We make faith harder than we need to. In Matthew 17:20-21 Jesus tells us, “I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.”

The mustard seed is tiny. When our faith is smaller than a mustard seed…it’s pretty much non-existent.

Learn from Jesus’ stories. Forgive yourself and others. Have mustard seed sized faith.