Lessons from the Remodel

Okay so here is the tote in which I carry all the info- measurements, prices, pictures, samples, contractors- it's all in here. I had no idea about remodeling before this undertaking. It has been crazy fun. I will not miss this tote when this is done- it's been a lot of work.

I am blessed to find God in every possible situation I find my self in and low and behold he shows up on my kitchen floor. Well I had to dig deeper, the lesson was way at the bottom layer.

You see the home we live belongs to the church Cody pastors. And they have been so gracious to allow me to remodel. ( I already have an idea to send this to the Baptist Messenger because this has got to be a big deal)

Well for some reason we never really hired a floor person so that kinda fell into our lap so once the cabinets were removed we went to removing the old linoleum ( I thinK I may be finally spelling that right, you shouldn't have some thing on your floor you can't spell). We'll wouldn't you know someone was lazy and decided to just go over an exisiting layer of linoleum instead of taking the time to remove it. So the first layer came off well, then we began the 3 step process of removing the bottom layer because in order to tile (like every should do) we have to have even concrete. So we began. We rented machines, one got the vinyl off but not the paper and glue. the next one didn't do a thing ( a waste of 60$ ) then we were left with a razor blade to scrap inch by inch off (easily 150 sq ft) We clear maybe 6 an hour and Cody can only do it for an hour at a time because it's so hard and only about 3-4 times a day. Anyway it's laborious....

so what does this have to do with God?

Here's the deal in life, there are a lot of times when we just want to make things look pretty and we don't take the time to remove something or deal with an issue. So we just cover it all up. We don't want to deal with our sin, our pride, or our past and we just go on pretending it's not there. But down below the surface of cheap linoleum is stuff that just needs healing, needs be given to God, needs to be talked out with a trusted friend. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there and someday it'll need to be dealt with.

So here's my experience - deal with it when it comes up. Deal with your past, your issue or your sin. Confess it, Discuss it, Give it to God and leave it for the garbage man to pick up. Start with a clean slate because when we let our feelings or dreams or sin get covered up it's a pain to deal with later. I wish someone would've taken the time to rip up a little linoleum 20 years ago- I wouldn't have had to chisel away at it now.

Don't be lazy in your spiritual walk with Christ, keep a clean foundation with friends and family.

You know another take on the whole idea is- sometimes in our lives there are things that need to be changed and we may deal with it some but we get lazy and say" forget it, who does it really hurt?"

Read Isaiah 39 where king Hezekiah is reprimanded because he did something he shouldn't have done- because of his sin his grandchildren where going to be taken captive and he just put on the new layer of linoleum saying well at least I won't have to deal with it.

Sometimes we believe lies, we make up our own doctrines or make God in our images instead of taking seek truth. The way is narrow, few find it, but I have and it has made all the difference. Me and Robert Frost. :)

Don't take the easy way out. God will honor what you do for his glory and for his name. So that we may shine like stars in the universe- a reflection of him.