Facades

 

 

She had a budget, I had a design. She loved the plan, I was happy with the budget. Sounds like a match MADE IN HEAVEN, right?

If everything went according to the plan, yes, a beautiful match. The shower tile was circa 1970‘s but from all appearances it was sound. It just needed a major face-lift.

The discussion I needed to have, however, was the “what if” talk. “What if they find unpleasant surprises behind the walls?”  “What if there has been a leak causing mold growth?”  “What if there is damage to the pipes? insulation? or wooden framework?” I have dealt with enough shower remodels to know I needed to have this frank talk with the homeowner before the first tile was removed.

I told her that a shower enclosure of that age would likely have some sort of issues.  “Are you financially prepared for budget overages?” After an affirmative reply, I presented her with beautiful but budget friendly travertine tiles and glass accents. She excitedly selected her favorites, and the journey began.

Day one the tiles and shower walls came down revealing their UGLY SECRET. Not only was there a ancient leak and profusely growing mold but also the most unexpected sight–termite damage! The termites had been feasting on every stud inside the shower wall for years. Some of these 2×4’s were so eaten through, they were almost completely severed at the bottom.

Until the walls were peeled away, no one knew the decay inside. It reminds me of the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day. Jesus basically called them CEMETERIES FULL OF ROT.

They looked so good, so spiritually together from the outside. Unfortunately their hearts were often far from God, preferring to look good in the eyes of men rather than holy before their Lord.

Sounds uncomfortably familiar, like the upstanding family that cheats on their taxes or unrepentantly on their spouses. Or ones who regularly scream and curse at each other all the way to worship but put on their church smiles as they file out of the car. (Not that we all haven’t had heated words on the way to church before.)

Facades we hide behind don’t make others want to follow our path toward God. They need to know we are FALLEN and FORGIVEN.

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Mt 23:27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

-We all hide behind facades.  What is yours– knowledge, beauty, hard work, humor?

-We all have insecurities and ugliness we try to hide.  What are you hiding?  Write a prayer giving it to God, and let Him make you beautiful and new inside.