Revealing

Posted on by marc ulrich

Several years ago we bought a house.   This was the first house we owned. It was a pretty big deal for us.  There were some changes we wanted to make to it. The beautiful thing about owning your own house is that you don’t really need to ask for permission, you can just do it.  When we purchased the house, there was carpet throughout the living room and hallway. We didn’t really love the carpet and wanted it removed. One day, one of our friends, Aimee, was over.  We were discussing the carpet and she reached over in the corner and pulled up part of the carpet. She was amazed at what was underneath. Beautiful hardwood floors were covered by this dull boring carpet.  

 

We immediately started doing research on how to remove the carpet and how to refinish the hardwood floors.  After doing the research, we decided to move forward with doing this project on our own. I rented the sander, sandpaper and all the other necessary items.  

 

Now both Heather and I knew what to do.  We had watched several youtube videos. The guy at the rental store even told us what to expect.  That makes us experts, right? Well, even if we both understood what should happen, it didn’t prepare us for what happened next.  We removed all the carpet, tarped all the hallways and doorways etc. The rooms were empty. The house was prepared and there we stood waiting for the next move.  We prepared the machines and I stood in the middle of the living room ready to begin. As I started the sander and began the process, I looked over in time to watch my wife walk out of the house.  Even though we both expected it to be loud and messy, she needed a few moments to brace herself.

 

As we started this process, sawdust flew everywhere.  The old layers of stain and polyurethane were removed, revealing the true beauty of the floors.  

 

Even though we knew it was going to be loud and messy, we had no idea to what expect.  It was shocking to both of us.

 

Sometimes as a follower of Jesus, I know what to expect as Jesus begins working in my life.  I know that parts of my life will need to be modified. I shouldn’t return to sinful ways of living.  I shouldn’t click on that website. I shouldn’t rely on substances to get me through the day. As Jesus begins the process of removing my old ways of living, it’s painful.  I don’t like it. I sometimes want to stop the process.

 

Some of us have done that in the past.  We’ve stopped the process of maturity and renewal that Jesus wants to do in us.  The process of removing the old is just the beginning. The process of revealing our potential and beauty isn’t easy.  It isn’t fun. It’s actually messy, but it’s so worth it.

 

Once the process of removing the old is complete, we can begin to put on the new.  There would be no point in putting on the new until the old is gone.

 

I am reminded of a time when I foolishly tried to cover up a huge mistake I made with a tractor while on the job.  I accidentally ran the tractor into a concrete structure that scratched the paint right off of a decent sized area.  In order to not get fired, I decided to find the same color of paint in the barn and repaint the damaged area. My boss, the farmer, came into the barn the next morning and didn’t say anything.  The paint job wasn’t perfect but it was good enough to fool him… that time. I took the tractor out again to get some work done. When I returned it; however, the new paint had worn off. It looked so bad.  It was obvious that something had happened. I returned the tractor to the barn hoping my boss wouldn’t notice. This time my boss asked me what happened. I was caught. He mentioned to me that he thought the tractor had looked a bit odd in the morning.

 

I really tried to think of some excuse that would cover my butt.  In my 14 year-old-life, I had never really had to deal with something like this before.  When I admitted what I had done, he laughed. He knew the whole time. He had watched me run into the concrete structure the other day.  

 

He taught me the proper way to fix a major screw up like that.  The area needed sanding and I had to remove all of the other dust and debris before repainting.

 

That day I learned a difficult lesson.  In order to truly repair the affected area, the old had to be removed.  

 

There are so many kinds of lessons like this, whether it’s painting a tractor or refinishing floors to reveal their true potential.  There are times when we need to realize this lesson in our own lives. This is called discipline. When we encounter discipline, we can either avoid it or embrace it.  I’d encourage each of us to embrace it. Learn from it and mature through it. Avoiding discipline may allow us to ‘feel’ good, but in the long run, we are only going to repeat our foolishness.  

 

What area of your life are you avoiding discipline?  What area of your life, if you practiced discipline, would improve by simply embracing discipline?  Don’t avoid it. Don’t cover it up. Embrace the whole process! Your true potential will be revealed as you do!  

 

Made for Less

Posted on by marc ulrich

This month I reached out to a friend who has a great story and lives a fun life!  Caroline has some great insights that I believe we’ll learn from as we head into this holiday season.

Often times we hear the phrase, “You were made for more” and in a godly sense, this can be completely true.  We were made to love more deeply, give more often, speak more kindly, and pray more wholeheartedly.  But in a worldly sense the word, more, means something totally different.  Our culture today is telling us we deserve more, we need more and we can’t be happy without more.  More stuff that is.  They are also making it easier and easier for us to “buy” into that lie.  With one click, you can have everything you’ve ever wanted to be delivered to your home in 2 days… FREE shipping too!  But what happens after the little brown box shows up on your doorstep?  What happens when the excitement wears off and that, once special, item ends up in the back of your closet never to be seen again?

For many years my oldest son begged us for a gaming system but we kept pushing his insistence aside.  We didn’t want our child to spend his days playing video games and shoving his face into a screen.  But we finally gave in and for his birthday we surprised him with a Nintendo Wii.  It was used.  Ten years old to be exact, and only had a couple games, but to him, it was the BEST THING EVER!!!  Now fast-forward one year and my son is already wanting to save up his money to buy the newest and coolest gaming system on the market.  Don’t ask me which one that is?!  It seems like every year there is something bigger, better, faster and everyone has to have it.  Don’t even get me started on iPhones.

Too many of us these days believe that contentment can be found in possessions.  But in all honesty, the list of items we truly need in life is pretty short and you probably already have everything you need in your home right now.  Jesus tells us in Luke 12 “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” What if contentment really is found in the opposite place you’ve been looking? What if contentment was found, not in accumulating possessions, but in having less of them?

In the coming months and years, we as parents, need to be mindful of what drives us to make certain purchases.  Is it for security, acceptance or contentment?  These things are not bad in themselves to desires but when it comes to materialism, they have limited ability to satisfy us long term. Solomon was a great example of such a life.  He was the wealthiest King in Israel.  He built houses and vineyards, he owned more livestock than anyone in Jerusalem, and he also had gold, silver, and female singers.  He denied himself nothing.  But at the end of his life Solomon wrote these words, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” Ecclesiastes 2:11.  He was disillusioned and learned that possessions and money didn’t bring happiness.

So, what does bring contentment and happiness?  The bible tells us in 1 Timothy, to put our hope in God, the one who provides us with everything we need.  We are supposed to be good, do good, and be generous with all that we have. By doing so, we will lay up treasures for ourselves. But they are not earthly treasures. In Matthew 6 it says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

There are more valuable pursuits in life than accumulating material things.  I like to tell people, remove everything unnecessary and improve the purpose of what’s left.  If you remove all the distractions, all the unneeded things in your life, what’s left?  Possibly God, family, friends, nature, and lots and lots of purposeful and intentional time together.  And like my pastor always says, “Love God, love others, and teach others to know and love God.” It’s that simple. That is where you will find true contentment and happiness.

This holiday season try to focus on the most valuable things you truly “need” in life.  Spend more time in the word and more time with the people around you.  And as for presents this Christmas, my son will NOT be getting that gaming system that he wants so badly.  Instead of all toys and gadgets, our kids will be receiving gifts of experience, adventure and time.  Things like season passes to the zoo, aquarium, museum, theme park, rock climbing, fishing, eating at their favorite restaurant, etc.  The list could go on and on.  See how your kids react to getting tickets to their favorite sports team or admission to a trampoline park for the day instead of a toy.  You might be surprised at how well they handle it!

In what ways could your life improve if you and your family owned fewer possessions?  Who could you invest more time in if you had fewer material distractions in life?

Caroline Hay grew up Indiana but now lives in Oklahoma with her husband, Kevin.  She is a Homeschooling mother of 3 boys, Photographer, Instagram Influencer, and Former Blogger. You can find her most active on Instagram @cnhay5