Housework

We've been doing some work on the house. Painting walls in a couple of rooms, getting some work done on a ceiling and installing a fan. We just varnished some cabinets in the kitchen trying to help them look more like ten years old instead of forty.

After spending all day working on them Marcus came in and said, "I don't see a difference." He's right. Not having the original dried up cabinet to compare it to, they still don't look that great. 

Nancy comes in and says, "They look beautiful!" She's right. She's made a lot of meals in that kitchen and knows exactly how much better things look today than yesterday.

Still, even as she says it, I can see the spots that aren't right, the things that could be better, the stuff I don't have the skill to fix on my own. 

We all have character issues we need to work on. Someone may come to me and say, "Jeff, you shouldn't have said that." That may be true, but it's easy to get defensive and think, "At least you got the filtered version."  

If a friend doesn't have the old version of my character to compare it to his judgement is likely to be harsh. 

At the same time, someone may congratulate me on handling a relationship well. But I have a hard time accepting the complement because I see the things I could have said better or the friendships I've blown in the past.

I still see the hidden flaws that need work.

I think the beauty of God is he knows exactly how much work we've done and exactly how much is left. Somehow the evaluation is both serious and compassionate. It's exacting and full of grace.

And if we let him, sometimes through the help of others, we can get  help, even with the things we don't know how to fix on our own.