Under Construction

How many of you, like me, have said "I'm under construction."  Perhaps you've said it jokingly or maybe you think there's some truth to it because you feel you're not the best YOU you can be right now.  I used to say I was "under construction" like there would one day be a grand unveiling to reveal the amazing work God had done in me.    If I was under construction, then what was the target date for completion?  Or was I simply using that phrase as an excuse for why I was willing to be or behave less than God had created me for?  

This past weekend my daughters, 6 and 11 years old, went to Richmond to spend the weekend with family. Before they left our house, I instructed them to clean their rooms so they would be on track with their chores when they returned home on Sunday.  The baby, I mean the youngest (the middle child says I'm no longer allowed to call the 6 year old a baby because we're babying her...anyway) did not have a problem obeying instructions.  Most likely because the process of cleaning her room only consisted of moving toys from the floor to the toy box.  The middle child's mess was far more elaborate and best described as a labyrinth of small glimpses of what is supposed to be her floor. 

From bowls of slime and the apparatus for her creations, to books and school papers, to toys she no longer plays with but refuses to pass down to her sister for fear that her sister might experience a nanosecond of fleeting enjoyment, all of it on her floor. 

I am amazed sometimes how two people, despite having come from the same womb, can be so different.  Yes, I understand the gift that God has given to us all in the form of uniqueness but I need the middle child to appreciate cleanliness a little bit more.  Then I am reminded of her free-nature spirit that comes directly from her grandmother Efunlola, and her artistic self-expression that comes directly from me. Those attributes combined with her God-confidence means she is determined to do it her way.   Needless to say, after they left, I saw that one room had been cleaned and the other room, not so much. Not only was the middle child's room nowhere near my standards of excellence or expectation of organization, but she had closed her door and affixed a sign to it that read, "Do not enter. Under construction"

As a mom, telling me not to enter the room was like giving me an open invitation to do just the opposite.  I opened the door and stared in disbelief; I marveled at her ability to see nothing wrong with the condition her room was in.  I did the only thing a mom could do in this moment.  Clean it?   Ahahahhaa, no.   I closed the door, and left it to bless her just as it blessed me to see it.  

The sign on her door was in a way, her permission to herself to be less than or produce less than what was expected of her.  It was her way of communicating she wanted to delay what was to come.  Now, when she returned, instead of being able to enjoy being home or the activities we had planned, she would be cleaning her room and taking care of responsibilities that were given to her and expected to be completed before she left. 

Bringing in the old...

When buildings are under construction, they're generally not in use or not used to the full capacity.  For new construction, contractors bid on projects and include a timeline for completion as part of their proposal.  When awarded the job, they must do everything they can to meet those timeline expectations.  If not, they can incur hefty penalties or suffer financial loses. The owner of the building wants to be able to use it for the purpose it was designed and when they were told they would be able to.  Roads under construction require drivers to take detours, cause delays and exercise extreme caution during travel.  Saying we're under construction is telling others that we are not ready to be used for our full purpose, we are causing delays and detours for others, and may even be contributing to our own financial loss simply because we're okay with being "under construction" for a period longer than planned. 

I started thinking about the construction zones I pass everyday driving around downtown Washington, D.C. and the new buildings that are being erected from the ground up.  Having worked in the building industry, I understand and appreciate the sight of construction even when it causes me delays.  When I see those cranes, trucks and hardhats, I see jobs, revenue, design, engineering, technology, and even art in the architecture.  I love watching the action surrounding construction, from the concrete trucks arriving with deliveries of cement, to the cranes lifting tons and tons of materials high in the air, down to the flagperson directing traffic around the complex maze of rebar, I-beams and porta potties.  I really do.  

But what really amazes me is when an old building is carefully extracted from the site on which it has sat for decades upon decades and moved to another location.  When done with care and precision, it can get a new lease on "life".  The old becomes new while still representing the old.  It's cool. 

At what expense...

Then I began to wonder what happens when the old should be left in the past?  What happens when the materials from the old building fail to meet the standards of today?  What happens when it is far more costly to bring in the old than it is to simply start over from scratch?  There have been people who have gone bankrupt attempting to renovate and rehab properties that were simply too deteriorated to bring up to code.  They could have saved time and money if they would have simply started over.  I've had a few instances in my life when I had to decide if I was going to remain with the old, attempt to work with and maintain that which I had outgrown or leave it all behind and start again.  

Needless to say, it doesn't make sense to ruin our future by holding on to a past that no longer lifts and encourages us.  And while starting over may require a significant amount of time that we thought we didn't have to give, using the excuse that we're under construction as if we're incapable of being and doing better, or are in ignorance permitted to operate outside God's will for our lives is equally senseless.  Allow the construction you claim to be one that enlarges your territory, not impedes your current one.  Grow in the things of God knowing that His way is perfect and they we have access to righteousness in Christ Jesus.  There is no need to use the crutch of imperfection when we are already perfect.  Be ready to serve.  Be ready to give.  Be ready to operate in your purpose while God lifts you to new heights in spite of everything and everyone else that says otherwise.  

~Sharonda💖