Life...

For about 3 years I have been trying to fix my roof.  Over that time we have had several reasons to postpone the job; lack of funds, oral surgery, dying drain fields.  Well, finally, some very good friends brought the roof restoration to fruition.  About 3 months ago 2 of them with extensive experience in building came to inspect my house and map out a plan.  Over the next weeks materials were bought and several tries were made to plan a work day.  Weather got in the way until today.  Twelve caring brothers in Christ came out today to fix my roof.  As the work began it was soon clear that there was no way we would get the work done today because there was much more wood rot than we thought.  As more shingles came up, more and more wood rot raised its ugly head.  What we thought would be replacing  3 to 4 sheets of plywood sheeting turned into almost a third of the roof surface.

I was nearly brought to tears as I walked about the property finding needed supplies and tools for the men who came to fix my house.  First I was distraught at how bad the roof was and how much longer it would take to fix and how much more it would cost for materials, and how much harder these friends would have to work and how could I have let it go for so long, and how could I have been so ignorant of what was going on and and and a....   Then I was struck by how blessed I was, yeah, how blessed.  With that much rot, there should have been water pouring into the house, but there wasn't.  With that much damage I could have been looking at thousands more in repairs, but it wasn't.  With that much damage this should have been so much worse...  BUT IT WASN'T.  Some might call it lucky, but I call it blessed.  By that time I was just glad to be on the other side of the shop looking for an air line fitting.  No one was there to hear me talking to God.

Now, sitting back n my chair, watching the Gator game, I realized the life analogy waiting to be written about my roof.  So here goes.  Life outside of God is like a rotting roof.  From the outside and from a distance, it looks pretty good.  Even when the owner knows there are a few problem areas, they can be easily covered up with sealers and tarps.  You can put a few new shingles over the really weak spots, and if you avoid walking near them you can probably keep things under control.  Our culture drives us to make sure to focus on how the outside looks because that's what others see.  We can often ignore what's going on under the surface because everything seems so normal.  Ignoring what really needs to be done will ultimately lead to collapse.  Life outside of Christ can leave us ripe for a collapse.

Well the roof is now patched and about a third of the boards are in place to mount the metal.  The whole thing is covered in a single large tarp, and I am sitting amazed at what God did today through the hands, backs and knees of 12 amazing guys.  (Hmmmm, 12 guys.....)