1/15/2025

I don’t know why I didn’t have at least one friend of mine say “Sane people don’t remodel their kitchen in December.” You’d think someone would care enough! Advent/Christmas is busy enough without adding the stress of having your house in construction chaos!

I was stupidly optimistic. When I started this in mid-November, I thought I’d have it finished in time for the progressive dinner and we’d have the dessert course at my house. 

I should have known better. 

The last remodel project I took on, my guest bathroom, took some 10 years (just ask Dorene, who had to listen to me gripe about it for most of those 10 years). 

On that bathroom wall were 5 layers of wallpaper, each one more hideous than the last, and the bottom layer (line drawings of poodles powdering their noses) had been plastered right on the drywall without any primer. The top layer came off very easily and I thought, “This will be a breeze!” But by the time I got through the other four layers to that bottom poodle layer, the paper was coming off in tiny flecks. I would work on it for weeks and quit in disgust for 6 months and pick it back up again. 

You see why it took 10 years! 

Last week, I tackled the wallpaper in the kitchen. After that poodle guest bathroom, I was dreading it, but I knew it had to be done. Plus, I knew I could spend the snow days stripping wallpaper if needed. 

It only took me about 2 hours!

Why? First, there were only two layers. And, second (and  best of all), my dad, who did the wallpaper in the kitchen, knew to prime the walls before putting up the wallpaper. Whoever built the house back in 1970-whatever didn’t do that and cursed the future generation (me) who would be erasing the sins of  the past. 

I have learned that preparation is an important part of . . . well, anything. When painting a house, the wall needs to be prepped and primed (same with wallpaper, although I’ve about decided Christians don’t put up wallpaper). When cooking a meal, it’s best to get everything gathered and prepped before the actual cooking begins. When planting a garden, the soil needs to be prepped. 

There’s work to be done before the work can get started!

As Christians, we prep our lives by immersing ourselves in disciplines like Bible study and prayer so that when life happens (and it will), we’ll be prepared to live, or when God says “do this,” we’ll be ready to jump to it! 

But it’s got to be genuine, and it’s got to be consistent. When on tour with a college music group, I stayed in the home of a young family who invited me to join in their daily devotions . . . only, their four year old daughter let me know it wasn’t so daily! Try as they might to convince me that was their routine practice, little Susie was not playing along. “Why are we doing that?” she asked. And daddy said, “Honey, you know we always do this.” And little Susie said, “Nu-unh, we NEVER do this!” 

Hopefully, that was the beginning of a spiritual practice for them! And if genuinely and consistently practiced, spiritual disciplines will transform our lives in unsuspected ways. 

I remember a father telling me of the night he was called by the police to come to the station and pick up his inebriated teenage son. The dad told me he was furious when he left the house, but all the way to the police station the Lord kept reminding him that every Sunday he prayed, “Forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those . . .”  By the time he got to the police station, his heart was softened and his attitude was completely transformed.  

The essentials of discipleship prepare us to live.  

What are the essentials? Worship, Bible study, service, giving, and witness. Why essential? Because by doing them regularly, by practicing them the same way an athlete trains or a pianist rehearses, these essentials will not only shape our lives, but will shape the world around us.  

An easy one to start with is Bible study. If you’re reading along with us, you will have nearly finished the gospel of Mark - 16 chapters in 16 days. On Friday, we start Matthew, again, one chapter a day. If you’ve never read the Bible before, this is a great time to start. Don’t worry about Mark; jump in with Matthew on Friday. Or start back at Mark. 

Just do it.

The goal of reading the Bible is to know Jesus Christ, learn how to be like him and how to do the things he said to do. When we read the Bible along with the other essentials, we will be prepared for whatever comes our way.

Most importantly, the essentials prepare our hearts for whatever it is that God wants to do in us and through us. 

Blessings,
Pastor Terry