When Hurricane Katrina hit, Williamson’s Chapel was ready to go be the hands and feel of Love in those ravaged areas. We began ongoing mission trips to help communities in Mississippi and Louisiana being rebuilding!
One of the things you became REALLY good at if you participated in one of those trips was the gutting of the homes.
There is something VERY cathartic about taking a crowbar and ripping out pieces of sheetrock one by one. Big pieces, tiny pieces, it didn’t matter! What mattered was that we were able to get rid of the “old” and get ready for the new!
Sometimes, however, we had to rip out things we didn’t think were necessary.
If the water level was to a certain point, you had to rip out all of the sheetrock and insulation, even if it appeared the water damage was no longer there.
After the walls were gutted, you had to spray this potent mix of water/bleach on the studs so that mold would not grow back after new sheetrock was applied.
So many times in our lives, that is what happens.
We have this “great” exterior, yet behind the initial appearances, there is a “mold” growing that we need to get rid of. Yet we can’t because we are not willing to rip away the things hiding it so that we can get to the deepest and most vulnerable level.
Today starts a new year.
We each have some type of “ick” or mold in our lives that could use some bleaching!
Would you join with me today as we:
1. Name the ick/mold we need to get rid of
2. Commit to taking necessary steps like prayer, meditation, and reading of scripture so that we can rid ourselves of that mold
3. Start gutting our lives of things/feelings/thoughts that do not bring us joy
“I will not allow this anymore” is something we can each think as we find mold/ick in our lives.
We can gut our own walls and expose the negativity. Once we do that – we can begin rebuilding and have our best version of a Fixer-Upper.
Will you join me in 2018?
Isaiah 43:19
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Grace and Peace,
Andrea