Transformation

We are about halfway through the remodel--and until today, it's been more of a mess than anything.  The ceilings were scraped off and redone, which left lots of dust everywhere on the main level of the house--and the stairways.  The boys and I have all had respiratory problems--either from the dust or from a virus--and we've had to eat in the family room.  I've had to make coffee in the downstairs bathroom, and had to get up early in case someone needed to get in.  Life has been topsy-turvy, to say the least.  But, now--it's starting to get exciting!  Painting is done, and they put our hardwood floors in the living and dining room.  I'd never seen hardwood floors done, and I was fascinated by the process--a huge jigsaw puzzle, where the pieces were hammered in with great force to produce a beautiful effect!  It made me think about times in my life where I felt like things were in an awful mess--a big puzzle, with a lot of pieces missing.  But, to God, they were all there--they just needed to be hammered in, and in my case, sometimes they needed to be hammered in forcefully.  The hardest part in the whole process is when all you see looks like things are being dismantled--torn apart, ruined and just generally awful.  At that point, it's a little hard to see what the finished product will be.  In all honesty, this is the first time I've been a part of such an extensive remodel, and I've had a hard time visualizing what everything will look like.  But now, I can get a glimpse, and I'm excited!  Soon it will be done--and then comes the painful part; paying for it!

God, of course, doesn't let us see the whole process.  He does give us glimpses in His Word of his final remodeling project in John 14, where He says that He has a place prepared for us--and he says no eye can see and no one can imagine how wonderful it will be in I Corinthians.  Knowing how excited I am about our humble little remodeling project makes me even more anxious to see what God is doing for me in heaven--and what He is doing right now, in my mess.  Remodeling is messy--but necessary to be transformed--and I SO want that, don't you?