Layers in Us
My husband and I have been renovating (if the Lord’s willing) our forever home for several years now. We bought the house mainly for the land. It’s been our little heaven on earth and our little get away we come home to to get away from our crazy work life. I know it was God when we found it. On our budget we somehow were able to find some land with a twelve-acre pond! Most of the properties we had looked at for what we wanted was out of our price range. It’s so peaceful and quiet and there is just something about being in nature and away from everything that it makes you feel closer to God.
Since I have been here at the house, it’s crazy, but God’s taught me so much. I believe if you listen carefully, you can hear God all the time speaking to you. I know I have had my fair share of talks with God and telling Him I just wanted to throw in the towel at the whole renovation process. But I know I couldn’t do that. My husband and I have been making memories together while renovating and I know that the best things in life are not always easy. BUT it sure isn’t for the faint of heart and as a woman, being a wife and mom, you hate to see your house in a mess.
Not too long ago I had a throw in the towel moment while sanding our back deck. It was old and painted a grey color and it was in need of great repair. So, we decided to try and sand the paint off and then possibly re-stain it. As I was sanding my little heart away and starting to get discouraged because the dang paint wasn’t coming off from years of who knows how long, I heard His whisper. “Don’t be frustrated, you are sanding someone’s life.” I stopped mid sand and took a break. God was so right! I was sanding someone’s life. Someone’s memories that were once there. Someone I didn’t know and the same place I was going to make my memories. My perspective and attitude changed. I felt like I needed to be more sensitive about the matter at stake.
As I kept sanding layer after layer after layer of paint off those deck boards, I had a thought. We all have layers in our lives. Life is hard and over time the hardness of life puts layers on us. Layers that are hard to come off. It goes something like this: Maybe some of us have anger from our childhoods. Maybe a there was father who was never there, or you came from an abusive family, then years go by and then life keeps happening and then maybe you add some bitterness on top of that layer of anger from maybe a bad marriage that didn’t work. Then other things keep happening in your life and then before you know it you have formed a “hard” outer shell to keep people from a distance maybe? The list can go on forever of scenarios. But Jesus wants us to be free from those layers. He wants to sand those layers off of us that are so hard to get off. He can do that once we decide to have a relationship with Him. He helps us become the person we were created to be. He helps us navigate our feelings and thoughts based on His goodness and who He says He is. Once we give our lives to Him and realize a life without Him is nothing then we start to see that those hard layers that we accumulated over our lives were only meant to draw us closer to Him. He didn’t intend for us to do life alone. He created us to have a relationship with us and to give us a life of peace to overcome whatever storm that may come (they will come) and that we stay rooted in Him and His son Jesus.
Jesus says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
– Matthew 11 28-30
Update! It’s crazy but about a year after I had written this, a lady and her family stopped by our home. They pulled up the driveway looked around and the lady introduced herself. She said that the house that we were now living in was the home that she was raised in and build her. I teared up when I heard this. (I immediately thought of the conversation I had with God about sanding paint off the deck). We talked about that song by Miranda Lambert, “the house that build me.” She said that that song was this house for her… She remembered and talked about what things looked like back then and talked about how she had names for certain trees in the yard and trails. She showed her children and husband around the property.
It made my heart so happy! God was right about me being sensitive about sanding the deck boards and the task at hand. I was sanding someone else’s life and memories… and oh how precious those memories are! Thank you, Rachel, for stopping by that day and for to sharing your life with us. I hope my daughter can say the same things about our home that you said about your home growing up…
