Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Ultimate Construction Instruction

Hello from the other side!

We are head long into a huge work in the house. It all started with a new television and boy did that get out of control real quick!

I like things to look pretty. I love making our home a place that showcases the things we love. I like when people walk in and want to know what we've been up to lately and I am so humbled when people like what we've done here enough to ask for help or advice for their own homes.

I worked so hard to get my gallery wall just right last year. I loved that way it turned out but underneath the paint and pictures were some real problems, problems I did not want to know about or look at. As I sit now in my living room I am looking at one wall that has been taken back to the "studs" on one side...


and then there are three walls still in tact. If I put my back to the destruction everything is okay but I know that is not truth, the mess is still there. In fact the three intact walls, nice as they look are not truth either. The reality is that there is no insulation behind the three painted and in-tact outside walls. So, while they look good they are really empty and of not much worth below the surface. Their effectiveness is limited because they are lacking something important inside. Hmm... what is God trying to teach me here?

Perhaps I am being told:

How good it looks on the outside, either physically or spiritually, is no substitute for tangible matter inside. If I am not walking with the Lord, spending time with Him daily, I have very little to offer anyone else. They may see the outside, comment that it appears nice, but is there anything below the surface that is of worth? Am I two chocolate cookies pressed together with no stuff in between? What good is that? None! So, when I say I am a Christian, there needs to be something behind that. Something that will benefit others; something of substance that others can count on and trust in.

I look back to the torn apart wall. Electrical wiring is an issue. We had to see what was happening with it as it was suspect. That led to knocking holes in the ceiling...


and then it took us upstairs to our bedroom.



A few holes later and then ultimately another entire wall being exposed to the studs revealed how problems were hidden and spread out to places we didn't know about. Ugh! I cried at the mess that was left. Hmm... what is God trying to teach me here?



Perhaps I am being told:

Sometimes I'm just too busy (A lie I often tell myself) to spend quality time with Jesus. I throw a verse out, or a quick Psalm, maybe a ten minute devotional as a quick fix and take off to another area of life where I am even more busy. I got my God fix for the minute, patch over the trouble spot and move on... but it wasn't done right, sin was not dealt with, errors not confessed and it spiderwebs into other areas. Before I know it there are problems everywhere with poor patch jobs. Patch jobs that have been there for years or decades. The wrong fix did not make the problem go away. It just got forgotten about. Somewhere along the line something else popped up and into that wrong line of thinking something else was spliced in as a quick fix... In the mess I cry out to the Lord. It all needs to be brought low and dealt with rightly in light of who I am before my God.

Now my eyes rest on the door in my living room. A door that was covered over and forgotten long ago when a wall was removed. From what I can tell and what I know of old architecture the room it led to might have been the "keeping room". Keeping rooms were located off the kitchen and served several purposes. The one that interested me most was that it was used as an infirmary when someone in the family was ill. It was a warm room due to it's close proximity to the kitchen. I my case the room sits between the kitchen and living room that used to have a fireplace, now long gone. The keeping room would have been a nice and toasty place to rest for a sick person. I am glad the wall was removed and it was a good call by whoever did it and so the door was no longer needed. Hmm...what is God trying to teach me here?



This one had/has me really stumped. A door that no longer serves a purpose... once again exposed it tells some of the history of this old house. My thoughts are all over the place. This is a not a true confessions post so no need to hit the mute button or run for popcorn. I just think there is a reason I am pondering these questions. What doors have I closed and covered? Was it a good thing? Were those doors closed by God when healing took place? When they are uncovered do I give glory to God for the healing?



I am not 100 percent sure what I am supposed to be learning here and maybe way off base. These are just the random thoughts of a woman stuck in a perpetual DIY project but still things to ponder. Recently, a dear friend , upon hearing that we were in the middle of this project, said " I’m beginning to think you all are addicted to re-doing your rooms continually." While I would like to say she's wrong it does make me think. We do seem to always be in the middle of a project or looking for the next project or how we can do something better. That is how I handle my heart, too. I need to constantly be examining and repairing what does not work. I need to be tearing out the things that are wrong and do not make sense. Build it right, with the truth of God's word- construction instructions for godliness.  Praise God that he keeps prodding me to become more like my King, albeit a slow process in my case.  I love how God uses the temporal to set my mind on heavenly things. In the midst of it all we will figure out our next steps with the practical.

Blessings.





6 comments:

  1. It seems to me the lesson from the house is that you can't just make repairs without first making sure the basic structure (life) is on a firm standing. It's like slapping lipstick on a pig...It's still a pig. I commend you for having the courage to examine it (your house, your life...) down to the start and making any needed repairs and then rebuilding it right.

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    1. Hi Sugar! Thanks for stopping by. You may be right but I don't think courage was the catalyst as much as it was God thumping me. I am a chicken (and sometimes a chicken with lipstick hanging out with those pigs)! I long for the day that I can be like David, asking God to show me any wickedness in me- and do it without wincing. For me, that day will probably come the same day the Lord calls me home! Again, thanks for the visit- it was a blessing.

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  2. Jolena, beautifully put. We all ignore our messes that are covered. Self examination when "sheetrock" has been removed, our internal "wiring" of thoughts. So thankful we have our Lord who will help us grow into a more solid person. Thank you for sharing your insights. Blessings and smiles, Emilou 😊

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    1. Hi, Emilou! I am so glad you stopped by today. Like you I am so very thankful that God is faithful. He has promised to finish the work and that is my only hope. Thank you for the kind words. I hope you have a peaceful evening.

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  3. This struck me on so many levels...thanks for sharing your heart and being so transparent!

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    1. Thank you for the visit, Molly. I hope you stop by again soon!

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