Among the other things we have dealt with recently is the discovery that I am allergic to dust mites. This is not just a small nuisance. We found out after I ran a low fever for 6 months, accompanied by horrible headaches. Finally a CAT scan showed that one of my sinuses had been infected for so long that the lining, which should not even show up on a scan, did in fact show up as a gray wall nearly half an inch thick. The doctor operated, ripping out bone and tissue to open up what had become a sealed incubator for anaerobic bacteria.
So we began vacuuming upholstery, washing sheets with a special de-miting solution, and zipping up mattress and box springs in special casings. The doctor also suggested I hire someone to dust for me. That’s not going to happen, but I am much more careful when I do the dusting myself.
Keith has also decided that we need to rip out the carpet and put down new flooring. Yes, the doctor says, good idea. Too bad she can’t write it out as a prescription we can deduct from the taxes next April.
The money is not the only problem. Do you know what a mess this place is in while we are having this done? Do you know how many things we need to go through and toss, and how many others need to be picked up and moved, or stacked and restacked as progress is made across the house? How about a freezer filled with several hundred pounds of garden produce and meat? How about an antique grand piano? Will I ever again be able to find a certain book in all these bookcases? Just thinking about it stresses me out, and I have an idea that we have not thought about every problem that will arise.
This is exactly the process a person goes through when he makes Christ the new foundation in his life. Those of us who have grown up “going to church” have no real comprehension of what they are facing when we talk to our friends and neighbors. We too often show no sympathy for the upheaval conversion will cause. In fact, the disruption in their lives may be the biggest hurdle they must cross, and the least we can do is be understanding. Too many times we dismiss those poor people, who so desire to have the peace we do, as “not worthy” because they cannot make an instant decision to change themselves, and then do so overnight. “They were not truly converted,” we proclaim. Shame on us.
Let’s not turn into hecklers instead of helpers. I have seen too many new Christians lose their way because the people who should have been guiding them were moving too fast for them to keep up, and simply grew impatient, leaving them behind. Putting in a new floor is a nuisance. Putting a whole new foundation in one’s way of life is a monumental change that deserves help and respect.
And just perhaps, the reason we do not understand is that our foundation is not what it should be. Is it habit and comfort, or is it commitment? Maybe I need another kind of new floor as well. Do you?
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds thereon. But let each man take heed how he builds thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, 1 Cor 3:10,11.
Dene Ward
So we began vacuuming upholstery, washing sheets with a special de-miting solution, and zipping up mattress and box springs in special casings. The doctor also suggested I hire someone to dust for me. That’s not going to happen, but I am much more careful when I do the dusting myself.
Keith has also decided that we need to rip out the carpet and put down new flooring. Yes, the doctor says, good idea. Too bad she can’t write it out as a prescription we can deduct from the taxes next April.
The money is not the only problem. Do you know what a mess this place is in while we are having this done? Do you know how many things we need to go through and toss, and how many others need to be picked up and moved, or stacked and restacked as progress is made across the house? How about a freezer filled with several hundred pounds of garden produce and meat? How about an antique grand piano? Will I ever again be able to find a certain book in all these bookcases? Just thinking about it stresses me out, and I have an idea that we have not thought about every problem that will arise.
This is exactly the process a person goes through when he makes Christ the new foundation in his life. Those of us who have grown up “going to church” have no real comprehension of what they are facing when we talk to our friends and neighbors. We too often show no sympathy for the upheaval conversion will cause. In fact, the disruption in their lives may be the biggest hurdle they must cross, and the least we can do is be understanding. Too many times we dismiss those poor people, who so desire to have the peace we do, as “not worthy” because they cannot make an instant decision to change themselves, and then do so overnight. “They were not truly converted,” we proclaim. Shame on us.
Let’s not turn into hecklers instead of helpers. I have seen too many new Christians lose their way because the people who should have been guiding them were moving too fast for them to keep up, and simply grew impatient, leaving them behind. Putting in a new floor is a nuisance. Putting a whole new foundation in one’s way of life is a monumental change that deserves help and respect.
And just perhaps, the reason we do not understand is that our foundation is not what it should be. Is it habit and comfort, or is it commitment? Maybe I need another kind of new floor as well. Do you?
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds thereon. But let each man take heed how he builds thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, 1 Cor 3:10,11.
Dene Ward
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