This week my wife and I are having new flooring put in throughout our whole house! Every room gets a new floor! We knew it would be a multi-day process, and we knew it would be a little messy. We prepared the whole week before by moving and packing breakables. I packed and moved my whole library, which filled about fifteen boxes and our garden tub in our bathroom. We moved everything we could to the garage so that the workers could get in and be as quick as possible to get the job done. We are so excited!

Then, yesterday construction, or actually destruction began in a flurry. The current flooring had to be torn up and removed before the installers put down the new floor. What a mess! Part of the flooring came up very easily, while the old linoleum in the kitchen took hours to remove. After that, installation went into full swing. After the workers finished about 6:30 pm last night, they had completed maybe 40% of the house. They swept and kind of cleaned up so we could live in the house overnight, but there was still debris, nails, trash, and an inch of dust throughout the whole house. It was a mess!!!

I tell this story to remind us that God has incredible plans for us as Christians and for us a church full of believers. Change and transition can be challenging and difficult. It may require a little removal of old things to prepare the way for new things. It may mean letting go of some comfortable ways so that may become more effective in what God is calling us to become. Change can be a little messy. None of us knows what the outcome will be. I was not even sure how well the coloring of the floor would match the cabinets in the kitchen! But, for my house there is no going back, the investment has been made!

Sometimes for God to continue His work in us there needs to be some mess made so that the next construction project for spiritual growth can happen for us. Most of the time God is probably telling us to just have a little faith and more than a little patience through the process, everything will be amazing because God is in all of it! It will all be a part of the story we will share together and talk about the next time we face a big change!

On the Journey with you!

Pastor Richard

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)