I love it and hate it all at the same time. That’s how I feel about our dehumidifier in our basement. 

There is a show on TV called, “Love it or List it”. It’s a real estate show about couples who are at odds with whether they should renovate their current home or buy a new one. 

These couples usually place great restrictions on the show’s two hosts – one who has a plan to renovate their home to suit their needs, the other who wants to find and sell them the perfect new home. 

At the end of the show, when the renovation is complete and the couple have seen some great homes, the hosts ask them, “will you love it (keep your home) or list it (buy the new one)?”

The couple is usually very torn and there is a suspenseful pause before they reveal what they want to do.

The thing is they love what the one host has done with their home, but they still hate some of the things that could not be fixed … which makes the new home look so attractive. 

They love and hate their current home all at the same time. 

And that is how I feel about what’s happening in our home. 

This spring and summer’s weather have made our basement very damp. I can tell because it is freezing in our basement – probably 3-5 degrees cooler downstairs than upstairs. 

But it is not a nice cool, or dry cool. It’s hard to describe other than it feels damp.

So this spring I hauled out our dehumidifier. It’s getting older but is still pretty good. With it working away in the corner, our family room has been transformed into a very liveable environment. 

But what I hate now about our downstairs is that the loud noise of the dehumidifier makes it very hard to hear. 

The TV has to be turned up and, if I have a conversation with Lily, it’s like we are under the “cone of silence” from the Get Smart show. We are always saying, “WHAT?” to each other. 

When important things are on TV – like a hockey game – I turn the dehumidifier off. But then sometimes I forget to turn it back on and it gets cold down there again. 

I’m not ready to go on the show “Love it or List it”, but man, I love and hate our basement all at the same time.

In reality it is not the basement that is the issue, it’s the dehumidifier. 

It sounds like a diesel truck is idling in our family room. And we’ve had the unit for so long that I can’t remember if it always sounded that way or if there is a bearing that is gone in it. 

Either way, there is no “quiet” setting on it for when the desired humidity has been reached. 

Maybe it’s time to “list it” and buy a new dehumidifier.

Here’s the thing: There are some sins that can become habits. When they do, they, in a sense,  become very comfortable. We get used to them. But they also become a main source of guilt. We love them and hate them at the same time. You can try to clean the sin up, but in the end it will still be there. You have to deal with that sin and move out of the habit. That you can only do with the help of God in your life. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you love and hate about you life all at the same time? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one delivered to your email inbox twice weekly.