Wet Paint

…behold, I am making all things new…Isaiah 21:5

As the calendar ticks away to the end of July, teachers everywhere are beginning to scurry.  The back to school mind is beginning to plan and organize and prepare.  I suppose most of the non-teacher world, sees summer for us as a multi week vacation.  That would be partly true, but not completely. For me, and most of the other teachers I know, it’s a time to reflect and re-work the parts of our curriculum that didn’t quite reach the students the way we’d hoped.  It’s a time to read and prepare for changes and fresh ideas, all targeted at engaging students and helping them grow.  It’s also a time to catch up on projects.  Today was the day I tackled my last big project for the summer; painting and redecorating the bathroom.

When I got started this morning, I was optimistic because the bathroom is the smallest room in the house so I thought I could have it wrapped up by afternoon.  Well, one thing led to another and by the time I re-painted the vanity and spray painted the towel holders and light fixtures and then got to the walls, it was dinnertime.  I had such high hopes for a quick and uneventful project.  Well, the walls are painted, but the drawers are all out of the vanity and the ladder is still in the bathtub.  The room looks like an F2 tornado passed through and there are little bits of toilet paper stuck to the floor where i bumped over my paint pan and when I stood up to wipe things up, I knocked down the toilet paper roll and it of course, rolled right through the paint splatters.  I finally just turned off the light and called it a day. Instead of feeling relieved and satisfied with a job well done, I realize I get to rise and shine in the morning and give it another go!  I’ll have to hold off on my shiny new bathroom until tomorrow.

As I was standing in the kitchen cooking supper I had to snicker a little.  I was all huffy because the day didn’t follow my plan and turn out the way I had organized it in my mind.  I had a schedule and I wanted that item checked off my list today!  I wanted to look at my pretty new towels and shower curtain and clean, freshly painted walls right now…not tomorrow!  I think I’ve been down that road before!  It wasn’t good enough for me to  realize that at some point tomorrow, I will have everything I wished for.  The little toddler in me came peeking out because I didn’t get my way.  Then, I felt that tender tug at my heart which was the Father trying to help me understand he had a lesson for me today.

God says “behold I make things new”.  He does that with his perfectly timed answers to our prayers but we get impatient like I did with the bathroom project.  If I would have rushed and re-hung everything, I wouldn’t have given the paint the  proper time to dry and cure in this humid weather.  I would have ended up ruining something in my haste.  I realized how many times I try to rush the Father and jump to the end before I’ve allowed him the time to work things for his purpose.  I will be patient and tomorrow, probably before lunchtime, I will behold a new bathroom and I will be happy.  As I finish up tomorrow, you can bet I’ll take my time and do careful work knowing that the Father who loves me will be doing exactly the same thing.

A Seed To Plant:  Be like Jesus, take some time to go off alone and pray.  Offer your list of places you’d like to invite the Father to make you new and then patiently wait for his intercession!​

Blessings on your day!