Picture this!

I’m been working on and envisioning the walls in our new home for over two years, even before we knew where our new home would be. I had no idea it would be such a challenge to pull them altogether. Thank goodness I had some (a lot of) help.

Tom was a draftsman when we got married. For years it made me crazy, Dear Reader, for him to measure, re-measure, and pull out the level to hang one picture. Over time, I got more patient and Tom learned to trust my judgment more on where to place pictures. But our new gallery wall was going to take all the skill and patience we could both muster. 

I did my homework, Pinterest-style. Read blogs, gathered pictures, started priming Tom for the task ahead. I was on a roll, but it seemed like I kept forgetting something. I told Tom the main points most articles had in common. He spent one afternoon just cutting out and labeling picture templates as recommended by several sources.  What a guy! 

The floor made a perfect palette to figure out an  arrangement we both liked. But what was it I forgot? Just when I was getting ready to take a pic of the layout Tom asked, “Have you measured the wall?” That guy knew the answer before he asked! Duh moment, #1. THAT’S what I’d forgotten. 

Measuring done. A little tweaking on the floor, and I thought we were good to go. We started in the middle of the wall, using the vertical mid-line putting up the paper templates with painter’s tape. So far, so good, right? Newsflash! 16 x 20 framed pictures are a lot harder to handle than their paper templates. Duh moment #2.

Tom and I were committed to no nail holes in our new rental. No prob! After weeks of online and in-store shopping, there were finally enough Command strips and Hangables for all the pictures. Real or imagied, it seemed to require much more measuring than using nails.

We were quickly approaching the “Are we done yet?” phase of this big project. No way we wanted to worry about having do-overs. And then we hit the wall. (No, not literally, Dear Reader, although we both felt like hitting our heads against it.) No matter how far we stretched, there seemed to be no way the highest pictures were going to get hung.

There’s two things I’ve learned about this husband of mine. Cut him some slack and give him some rope, and  Tom can figure out just about anything. Tom’s mom is resourceful and his dad was super-mechanical. Thanks to them, I got myself a winner with this one! 

And the other thing I’ve learned about Tom? For better or worse, there seems to be no end to the ways he’s willing to show how much he loves me…including choking down his fear of heights so I don’t have to choke down mine in order to get the job done.

Dear Reader, I never forget how blessed I am to spend my life with someone who daily shows me kindness and compassion. It’s a potent reminder that we have a heavenly Father who does the same. My prayer is that you enjoy the same blessings.