The bathroom is finally finished! Yes, that project I started 2 months ago is complete.....well as much as possible. I still want new taps and faucets and a new toilet...but those things will have to wait until there is money for such luxuries.
I think back to the mess this room was....when I literally wanted to cry for the amount of work it was to scrape and scrape and scrape, and purge out the mould and mildew. It was so hot and I wondered if it was worth the aggravation. Couldn't I just somehow cover it all up?? Or walk away and forget I ever started?
Preparation is worth it. Sweat, tears, hard work, and determination are worth it. Perseverance is worth it.
Got a mess on your hands? Don't walk away. Anything worthwhile requires effort. Allow 'preparation' the time it requires. Get rid of the grime underneath the surface. Scrape down to what matters....cry if you must. Purge the deepest layers. Then...when the bottom layer is cleansed...and only then....begin to build. One day your reward will not be fleeting and your efforts will bring lasting results.
Here's a rather cool version of Psalm 51:1-17 from the Message Bible that my bathroom somehow reminds me of. (Call me strange) :
"Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been; my sins are staring me down. You're the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born.
What you're after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise.
Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice."
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