Long, Slow, Work.

It’s slow work, rebuilding.

Making sure each cut is the exact correct measurement, each board, each wall. Placing screws in the proper place so that everything is solid, anchored. Each stage is important, every step in the process is vital to the end goal. If you move too quickly, rushing ahead to the next phase, you won’t be ready for it. You may even have to undo what you have already done, so that it can be done the right way. Slow. Painstaking. Work.

After the demo of our upstairs bathroom, we (and by we I mean mostly my husband) have begun putting it back together. The task was so daunting, hopeless, when it was in the middle of the destruction. Torn out walls, literally no floor, and open plumbing… there was just so much to do. But, my faithful husband, has done the hard work. He cut out the bad floor. He removed the moldy drywall. He moved air vents and lightswitches to make more sense and be more convenient. He removed part of a wall that was only taking up space so that there was just a little more room for our three growing boys in one bathroom. Yes, it took a little longer than we had hoped, but it was done well. It may have cost a couple injuries, but nothing serious.

We finally reached the point where it is looking like a bathroom again. We have walls. We have floor. And it’s all fresh and new.

Granted, there is a lot more work to be completed. But it’s a relief to see progress.

I see the end in sight. It will be a long week of taping and mudding, and mudding, and sanding. Stefan’s least favorite part of a remodel. But… that’s when it gets fun. The paint! I don’t like the act of painting but I love the result. Color brings me life, especially when replacing something old and bland and dirty. Then comes the floor and putting everything else in.

It’s long, slow, work.

But it’s worth it.

I know, there is nothing special, spiritual, or romantic about a bathroom. But God gives me eyes to see His Hand in everything. To see the beauty in tearing out the old, broken, dilapidated to be replaced with the fresh, sturdy, and clean. To know that it takes fortitude, patience, and trust to make it all new.

Our souls are no different. Jesus has to come in and rip out all that is rotting, wrecked, and ruined. At first it’s painful and maybe doesn’t even make sense. But each step, each stage, each phase… it has a purpose. We are broken and damaged but with Jesus we are made new.

It’s difficult to walk through the demolition stage. Ripping out the familiar can be devastating. Then, painfully placing each new board in faithfulness, trusting that if we focus on knowing Jesus, the foundation will be secure. The little steps, the tiny things that don’t seem like they are making progress, can be the most vital. Going to church, making time to pour my heart out to God, keeping my focus on Him first… those are the small steps that lead to big progress. Those are the steps that ensure my feet are planted on the Rock of Jesus.

Yes, it’s long, slow, work. But if I let Him do the work, I will see the progress. Then one day, things start to look less like the wreck that is me, and more like the beauty of Jesus. And that, friends, is an exciting day.

Don’t give up.