Whats underneath

Sometimes, no matter how old your house is when you bought it, there are things about it that dumbfound you and leave you asking, "Why the heck would anyone do that?".

Well our town house is from the seventies. It's a "work in progress" and seems like every time we feel like we actually making progress, we DISCOVER something that makes us feel like we're can't get traction and make actual, definitive progress.

There was something questionable to both of us, the other day, that we discovered in the basement. Partly out of disbelief and partly our of scared necessity, we decided that it was time to do demolition in the basement. Which meant we might as well, tear the carpet off the walls.

(crickets…) Yes! I said carpet on the walls. We'd always been suspicious about what was under the carpet. I mean, get real, who does that? Why in the heck would anyone EVER put carpet on the walls? We thought of all the things they could have wanted to cover up, all the reasons that the MIGHT have thought this was logical (to put carpet…on. the. walls).

But there comes a line of demarcation, where we looked at the cover up and it didn't matter what we'd find underneath… it's GOT TO come off. It could be mold, it could be vomit green paint, it could be a precious moments painting…picture what you will. Whatever it scariest. Even if it was that…it had to come off. We'd deal with the aftermath. We'd learn to deal with it, we'd even turn it into something better. The carpet cover up, had to go.

We ripped. We tore. It felt awesome to rip the gross stuff off the walls. And surprise, there was nothing underneath that was worth covering up. No mold. Nothing. The cinder block is from the 70's and needs to be re-sealed and painted freshly.

See, sometimes cover ups aren't even logical. There's not even truly "hiding" anything. Their just short cuts. Laziness. And once we got rid of it, we are free to make the space into something beautiful and useful.

One of the ladies in my group said a while ago that she was ready to get messy when it comes to serving the Lord, because so many times people want to serve and live in ways that don't make them get messy. I was reminded of this that day. Most of ( if not entirely) our Christian lives is about being willing to get messy. To be willing to rip off the cover ups, to tear down the walls, to be willing to deal with the aftermath, to put in a long day painting, to do whatever it takes, to sacrifice you time and your body to the project, to be sore and sweaty and tired. To be made into something beautiful and useful.