The Mess

Have you ever watched one of those HGTV shows where rank amateurs are taking on, say, a kitchen renovation?  It's chaos.  Each time they start to tackle another element of the job, there is a bad surprise.  Plumbing problems seem to top the list. 

Well, the craft room is all cleaned out and now it is time to remove the border paper that was such a hit 17 years ago.  It is so bare in here that sounds echo throughout the room.  The computer table is in the middle of the room to allow access to the border paper.

So guess where all the rest of the stuff is?  Everywhere.  There isn't another room in the house that hasn't been affected by this project.  Storage areas for "craft" materials are:  the basement, the enclosed porch, the dining room, and the spare bedroom.  Yikes!!  If it were not for the border paper, the room would likely have been painted already and we could have started replacing the wood trim by now.  We don't even HAVE the wood trim yet.

The worst part is that we won't have this problem solved in 30 minutes or 60 minutes like on HGTV.  It will go on and on for a while.  Patience!!  Isn't that one of the keys to life? 

This small example here is a realistic depiction of what happens in our lives when we go astray. The mess of it travels all about, spreading here and there and before long, there is no peace to be found, no sanctuary.  Our souls long for union with God.  We want reconciliation.  We need repair.

When we were building this house, my work calendar showed the stress of it.  In order to see through to the end, to arrive at moving day and beyond, I'd put a notation on the calendar six months ahead such as, "Well, how do you like the house now?"  In this way, the concern over digging a well, installing a septic system, putting up walls, drywalling, roofing and siding didn't seem as daunting.  That was 1987!!  I can still remember how hard we worked, but you know, there were wonderful family moments too. 

Thank you, Lord, for patience!!  Congratulations to the Tohills on the birth of their granddaughter, Abby, yesterday!!