Some houses are made of termites. Take away the termites and there's nothing left of them. So, in a sense, termites sometimes help keep your house standing up--if it's a house of termites.
Our house is full of termites and the remains from their greedy devouring. Being half concrete and half woods (in a 9 sqm land) termites finally got the most of it after 10 years. You lift the linoleum mat up from the floor and you'd see nothing but eaten wood--looking like dry, brown chocolate crisps. Thank God the floor joists are still intact. The dusts are probably responsible for my chronic cough and cold--my post nasal drip in general. Our house of termites can still keep us a bit comfy when we're in it, still provides shelter for us, and I thank God for it.
Our house is like a pigeon house compared to our neighbors' mansions around us. People pass by and look and laugh. But we're not offended--who cares if they find our house ridiculous? Well, my wife sometimes is affected, by I try to cheer her up. "Our house is unique," I try to make her see, "and not too many folks can afford to have a house like ours."
Of course, it's a joke, designed to make my wife laugh a bit and keep up the confidence and think positively about everything. I know how a house of termites can make a wife feel. Houses are among most wives' dear dreams, and it's got to be at least a presentable one. I hope someday God will bless my wife's dream. We're really tired of this house of termites.
I love my wife so much, and I really pray that God would allow me to have at least a decent one to live in, all concrete, with steel frames and structures. About 5 years ago I drew a plan of a small house, a remodel of the our present one, two-story, with a covered roof deck and an attic above. The plan is in my bible cover, and I pray for it regularly. Aaah! When will you make it happen, God?
Sometimes, when the dusts affect our health so much, I cry to God and get tired of crying. Then I simply ask him why. What kind of life is this? Later, when things get better again, I tend to forget about it all and just enjoy God with my family, though I wonder why there's always a shortfall. When money's short, that's when I hate life, hate it because I know God can provide for everything and yet we're short of things. If only there were no bills to pay for...
I found that you can hate life at the same time you enjoy it. You can also hate life but love God with it. As Facebook says, it's complicated. Life's seldom simply black and white. You cannot just say, "I hate life, period." Or, "I love life, period." It's like painting--you always need to mix colors to get the right hue, tone, and shade. Monochromatic paintings are also good--it was what I often preferred as an architectural student--but one-color renditions just present a limited interpretation of life.
House of termites...it's something you get tired of seeing and you want to kick it out of your life but you can't. So what you do is to look afar, shake your head, and sigh.
