Sharon was asked last week if we could put a ramp on a house for a student in a wheel chair. Neither the tenant nor the owner of the house were in a position to build a ramp.
The deck we attached the ramp to was not exactly level and standing straight. On Sunday I asked Marvin if he would be willing to help me build a deck on Tuesday. Marvin is only 89 years old and likes to keep busy.
We built the ramp Tuesday morning. I had to remind Marvin occasionally that we did not need to be perfectly straight and level because we were attaching the ramp to a deck that was not straight and level. We just started stepping back and eyeballing it to see what it looked like. If it looked somewhat level to us, that is what we went with
It really pained me not to put spindles on the ramp instead of just boards on the side but I am not sure just how long the boy in the wheelchair will be living there, and a ramp not quite up to my standards is much better than no ramp at all.
Last week Friday Micah tore the carpeting out of house we had just purchased. He saw the hard wood floors underneath, and was sure we could get the paint off and refinish the floors. My question was who is this we. I know how this one would play out. I would be on my knees trying to get the old paint off the varnish and then putting on a new coat of varnish. Micah would be somewhere in Pella.
Sounds like a good idea if you can get dad to do the work. Notice the laminate flooring boxes in the corner? Yea, I'll return those as soon as I see Micah working on cleaning the floors, until then the plan is, they are going down, and its' on the schedule for next week so my guess is it is new floors cover the past mistakes of others.
I spent my morning pulling up tack strips from the old carpeting. I hate pulling up tack strips. They are filled with tacks sticking up (hey, maybe that is why they are called tack strips. ya think?) and I am always bound to prick my fingers. I really hate it when they are nailed into hardwood floors. I really, really hate it when some fool put 2 nails every inch to hold the tack strip in place. See the above photo. That was a real joy. Most of the strip came out in tooth pick sized pieces.
Most of the time our lives are kind of like that deck we attached a ramp to, the floors under the carpeting and the tack strips. Our lives are not level and they are starting to come apart. When you look underneath our facade we are covered with ugly spots that shouldn't be there and are going to take some work to get rid of. When God tries to pry up the old to replace it with His ways, we have the old firmly nailed in place.
God takes our broken lives and makes them useful if we will let Him. He comes and covers over the spots and makes us new, and if we let him he will take those sins we have such a firm grip on and will pry them away from us and throw those sins out of our lives. God only fixes us when we submit and allow God to be in control. I'm working on that. How about you?
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