As some of you regular blog readers know, my wife is currently out of town, and I am responsible for taking care of the kids and the house in her absence. Its not a huge deal, its just that the two of us have a sold partnership and understanding of who does what, so when the other person is gone, it throws a wrench in the works. I've been doing fine, its just new.
My plan has been while she has been gone to get a few projects done around the house so that when she returns, it looks like I did more than sit around a grow a beard (which I'm doing). I'm honoring Michael Keaton from Mr. Mom (80s movie) Beard, bathrobe, soap operas etc. you get the picture.
Based on the title of the blog, I'm sure that you know where this is going before I even get there, but indulge me for a moment. Yesterday, I decided to tackle a small problem that has been at our house since the day we moved in. There was a portion of drywall in our garage that looked like it had been kicked in. It wasn't huge, a 1 by 2 foot section maybe. Well, it had been there for 6 years, so yesterday was the day it was getting fixed.
Since I was replacing a section of drywall, I had to remove the affected area, which required exposing a stud, so I would have the ability to secure the drywall. To assist myself in this endeavor, I thought it would be good to use my reciprocating saw to make it faster. It did go faster. Quite faster. Fast enough to cut through two wires behind the drywall.
It was pretty exciting the sparks and the smell of burning rubber that permeated the garage. Needless to say, I had a few choice words that aren't blog appropriate. Ugh. It was so frustrating.
As soon as it happened, I knew that this small 30 min job was now going to take the better part of the day, and it did. I spent 2 hours fixing what I did. It ended up blowing out the receptacle on the other side of the wall, so I had to replace it and rewire some stuff. It wasn't fun.
Then it happened. Dumb ol' me was pushing the new outlet back into the wall, with the power on, and I touched a live electrical wire.
It doesn't take very long to realize that you're being electrocuted. Oh my goodness did it hurt. It only lasted probably half a second, but it felt like a minute. If its happened to you, you know what I'm talking about. It hurts.
As I was sitting there realigning myself, it made me think about a lot of things. Mostly I was thinking why so many times little projects that I undertake seem to always turn into bigger ones, but that's not the main one. I was reminded yesterday that God never promised our lives wouldn't be without some momentary troubles.
Sure, I can appreciate that the Bible never said that we were going to be electrocuted, but that's not the point. The point is that life was never intended to be without the occasional challenge or setback. I'm not the guy who believes that God sits around looking for calamity to put on us to teach us something. I believe that things happen in our life, usually of our own doing, that we can learn from if we pay attention.
What did I learn from being shocked yesterday? Again, the recurring theme of my life- patience. It happened because I didn't think things through all the way. I was rushing, because I like to get things done as fast as possible, The lesson? Slow down and take the time to think things through, and you'll probably not get burned as often.
Are you a person who doesn't think things through all the way? Do you rush through things? Perhaps you should slow down and think before you act. You could save yourself a bit of trouble. You don't have to be electrocuted to learn this lesson today. I took care of it for you.
Be blessed
pastor matt
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