Life's Project

The thought of The Project has been on my mind for quite some time. I was recently challenged through an online sermon titled "Someday--Code word for Never". I've been going to start writing/blogging "someday", and since it's been over a year and a half since I first thought about Life's Project, today I'm starting my Someday...

My hubby and I have nearly lost count of all the houses we've remodeled (we think it's 4, but maybe just 3 and feels like 20). We're not flippers, and most definitely haven't been smart like some people who remodel first and move in later. We just move right on in and remodel alongside real life. You can imagine the messes we've created. My sweet grandmother has been known to say upon occasion, "Honey, what ARE you going to do with that? Are you going to cover that hole?" After nearly 14 years of marriage, gutting a kitchen the first 6 weeks of law school, re-tiling a bathroom along with new carpet, countertops, tile and windows, stripping wallpaper, stripping linoleum, painting, grouting, installing crown molding, landscaping, fence repair, installing cabinets, painting cabinets, etc., I think we can survive most anything...good thing is we're still laughing and haven't killed each other yet!:) No, there was no contractor, just two people with an idea to make something better. All turned out beautifully and were finally finished just in time for life to change, the houses to sell, and someone else to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

One afternoon in the midst of the last remodel, I was stripping the most heinous flowerdy (it can be a word);) wallpaper one could possibly have in the entry way to our home. The colors were green and rose, if I remember correctly. The previous lady was a DIY'er, too, but didn't have the skills to be. She had painted the bottom portion of the wall a strange shade of red with a yellow glaze on top. Got the picture of this hallway...in the entry to our home?!? She could have used a design team with those choices!;) As I stripped the first layer of wallpaper, I noticed there was a second, and under the second was bare sheetrock. As I kept taking down piece after piece of paper, and piece after piece of backing, I made quite a mess. Finally the project prep-work was completed, the mess was swept away, primer was painted on the bottom, the bare sheetrock was textured, and the hall was painted colors that were calming and pleasing to the eye to make a nice welcome area for friends we might be greeting there. I could FINALLY leave my front door open!:)

In the midst of this chaotic project, I started thinking how this wall and all it's layers and bad choices of design could be similar to our lives. God has such an amazing and wonderful plan for each of us, but we try to do life by ourselves, end up covering up our mistakes with more and more layers. We "fake it 'til we make it" instead of handing everything over to the One who knows the number of hair on our heads and tells us in Phillipians 1:6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." He knows what we need, he knows our weaknesses, but also knows our strengths. He can strip down the layers, clean up the messes, and make us whole and new again. Through Him, we can proudly open our doors and let our light shine.

God has a project for each of us. Maybe it's being a parent, a teacher, an attorney, a farmer, a doctor, a salesmen, and the list could go on. Are we open to it, though? Sometimes we just have to be still and open to let the work be done within us. What Project is waiting? Let it begin...