Aglow prayer

The List

The following blog was contributed by Martha Stanley.

Have you ever put something off because in your mind it was “too” hard, would take “too” much time, “too” much energy, was “too” complicated, would be “too” costly in some way, or would just be “too” something? Me too. A few weeks ago I looked around my home and saw an overwhelming amount of things that were needing to be cleaned, repaired, or upgraded in some way. I don’t know about you, but when my environment gets “too” out of order it has a draining effect on me. Sometimes one reaches the point where the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change.

Look Around – Write it Down

At that point I had the choice to let things continue to deteriorate and perpetuate the chaos, or do something about it. I do believe God is a God of order, and I knew He was in this. So Lord, where to start? A list. Look around, write it down. My list quickly had 112 entries. Yes, really 112 thing to do. Oh boy! Again, where to start? Some of the things on the list would take days, some hours, and some just minutes. These things would never get done if I waited to “feel like it”, so I asked Him to lead me. And He did, systematically, item by item He would tell me, “Now it’s time to do ‘this’. Today let’s start ‘that’”. Did I always feel like it? Mmmmm, no. But once I got started, the energy, the anointing if you will, was there to push through to completion.

Our Exellent Helper

The Holy Spirit is truly our Excellent Helper. He even showed me creative ways to restore, not replace many things. Living in Florida so close to the water, outdoor furniture and fixtures rust and mold over time with the assault of the salt air. All the furniture on our expansive back porch had seen better days, and was in desperate need of an upgrade. With a little cleaning (and about 30 cans of white spray paint) every piece looks brand new. The whole porch is now an inviting and attractive place for family and friends to hang out.

The brass door handle on the front door and brass porch lights also had been kissed by the air of the sea, but would be very expensive to replace. I felt led to go to the paint section of the hardware store one afternoon where I stumbled upon a jar of metallic brass paint. Perfect! After cleaning the fixtures up a bit with vinegar and steel wool, and a couple coats of the paint, for about 10 bucks everything looked brand new.

For over a year the cold water on both sinks in the master bath had been turned off because they were leaking. So every night the challenge was on to wash hands, face and teeth at warp speed to try to beat the forthcoming scalding water. Plumbing repair was in my mind not only “too” complicated to do myself, but “too” costly to hire a plumber.

The list item taunted me. Then the day came when I felt a nudge from the Lord, “We got this!” The wisest response seemed, “Ok, Lord, You’re on! Let’s do this!” After one YouTube video and a trip to the hardware store for Moen 1224 cartridges, it literally took me 5 minutes to fix my husband’s sink. There was a bit of a learning curve for mine as there was more than one issue. But hey, I learned all about compression rings, ordered one online and when it came a few days later it only took a few minutes to fix my sink too. Ah, the joy of washing my face with cool water. It’s the little things in life, right?

There is one more repair I want to mention. A couple of years ago one of the double paned storm windows came off its “shoe” when I was cleaning it. The window is large, and heavy, so I’ve been using a bulky piece of wood to prop it open, but this was getting really old. After watching videos of how to reconnect it, and several attempts with several people, it was clear that this is one job for which a repair call must be made. I had put this off for all this time, because in my mind a repair call to the window company would be “too” costly. Imagine my surprise to hear the dispatcher say that repairs of this type were included in the contract at no cost. All this time, all this fuss, and provision had been there the whole time. Yep, big lesson there.

From cleaning the garage, to painting and organizing the spare bedroom, to fixing leaky faucets, cleaning every window, drape, and blind, to repairing the lid on the steamer pan, all 112 things have now been completed.

Just Start Somewhere

After all was said and done I wondered why in the world I had put everything off for so long. Once I got going it really wasn’t “too” hard, didn’t take “too” much time, and with a little creativity wasn’t “too” costly. It had all just built up because in my head it was “too”. I had to just start somewhere.

What in your life have you put off? What to you seems, well, “too”? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, just start somewhere. He really is our Excellent Helper.