Foundations

There's a house just across the street that always has had such a nicely landscaped yard.  No weeds in the flower beds out front, the grass always trimmed right on schedule . . . in contrast to the overgrown flower beds and grass in dire need of a mowing here.  I'll admit, there have been times I've looked out the window and felt the guilt creeping in . . . guilt for not keeping the flowers weeded as well as the former owners, or for letting the yard go a few too many days in between mowings.   Small children, homeschooling, and teaching schedules will do that to a yard.

But over the past week, some interesting things have been happening.  At first it was a curiosity . . . the neatly manicured hedges were ripped out.  Then came the truck loaded down with steel beams and railroad ties.   As we watched out the window in between lessons, holes were knocked in in the foundation and the beams maneuvered under the house.  By the end of the day, the house had been lifted high enough for someone to crouch down and walk underneath.  Today though, it really got interesting.  Quietly, without any roar of loud machinery, with just the buzz of a small Bobcat and a few suspendered & straw hatted workers,  a temporary support was built and the house was simply slid over to the side, completely off the foundation.  Just like that. 

How often our faith is like that house!  It looks neat and put together on the outside.  But there are small tell-tale signs that something isn't quite right.  Maybe tiny cracks appear, or the door that once opened so smoothly has started to stick.  As we investigate, we realize that some of that put together appearance is just decoration . . . the landscaping. The foundation may look solid from the outside edges and seem to fit together oh-so-neatly.  But what is underneath, at the heart?  Leaving it alone seems easier for the time being . . . but in the long run, leads to collapse.  The scary part comes next, when holes are knocked into that oh-so-nice looking foundation.  Holes of questioning?  Of doubt? Will the whole thing come crashing down?

Temporary supports find an opening through those holes, though.  And before you know it, you've slid right off of the old foundation and found that the temporary beams can support it even while balanced on what seems a precarious stack.  Maybe that's you, or someone dear to you, and it appears that faith has slid completely off of its foundations and is in a whole different place ~ that scary place of being "up in the air."  We try to push back onto the old foundation, to put things the way they were.  We don't realize that this is temporary and necessary for a solid future.  It's hard to trust that the temporary supports will hold steady. 

But the old foundation is now exposed for what it truly was ~ not a solid, neat, tight-fitting base, but a mixed up conglomeration of things that worked and things that didn't.  Of strong walls alongside crumbling ones.  Essential plumbing running throughout old ruins.  All previously hidden behind a neat outer facade that looked strong. But now rebuilding the foundation can begin and strength restored.  No longer covering up the crumbling weak spots with something that looks good but won't hold.  But building a solid foundation of truth and grace and love and trust and listening and obedience.  Cementing together bricks of relationship and community and unity in Jesus.  Restoring a foundation that is strong enough to weather the rains.  So that when you slide back onto the foundation, it holds, and is stronger than it ever was to begin with.   Trust the Master Builder . . . He knows what He's doing.

(We'll keep watching the construction across the street.  Because maybe in addition to strengthening a foundation, something brand new like a basement will be dug in preparation for that solid future.)

PS:  Today, they put up steps to the front door (which is 5 feet or so up in the air) ~ looks like life is going to continue in the midst of construction and being "up in the air" ~ which it should for us all.  :)