Mending the Cracks

And Tiff thought I wouldn't blog while she was gone.....psshhh. Well its only been 3 days and counting since Tiff left for Peru, it feels much longer. It's strange, but I think I've grown out of my loner nature a bit since we've been married and especially since we started working at home together. When she travelled frequently with Lifeway I enjoyed and looked forward to time alone......now, not so much. I still enjoy being super productive, but I miss looking over from my desk and laughing with her, lunch break, random errands/tasks during the day, silliness................................her.

I've been packing every hour with activity: work of some sort (either design work or landscaping), hanging/dinner with friends, cleaning, anything. One of the tasks I've tackled is mending some major cracking in the brick near the chimney. No, the crack wasn't really this big, I had already chiseled out the joints before I took the shot. After the joints were clean though, I stood back and it freaked me out. It was very unsettling. Being up close, pounding out the mortar, I didn't get the whole picture. But when I stood back, I thought: "sure hope I can put it back together".

The tearing apart was quite easy, the putting back together was much trickier and required me to have much greater faith in my own abilities (which, to be honest, have never really been tested in this area, masonry repair that is). A lesson learned several times over during home renovation: It's much easier to tear things apart than it is to put them back together.

As I was covered in mortar I couldn't help but draw parallels about the "cracks" in my life. The "cracks" and places that get torn apart scare me, because I can't see how they will get mended, or I think "how can I fix this?" I also can't "stand back" to see the big picture. This was just another great reminder (and I require them frequently) that it's nothing to do with my abilities, but everything to do with my faith in the unchanging abilities of the one who created me. That makes me smile.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6

-Who's picking up the slack now 'o lover of mine? -Josue