Wallpaper Transfomation

The summer of 2013 will go down in history (at least, Manske Family History) as the summer of the great makeover. After the marriage of our oldest daughter, Shelby, we decided to move Ashley, Carly, Matthew, and Jacob to different bedrooms. Of course, it wasn’t as easy as just switching rooms. We decided to let each of the kids choose a theme for their rooms and then decorate according to the chosen theme. Like all projects, there was a chain reaction. Before it was all over we had redone the bedrooms, two bathrooms, three closets, and the main stairway/hallway.

            Of all the projects we tacked, the stairway/hallway was the worst. The stairway was covered in hideous wallpaper that we’ve hated from the day we moved in. We’ve always wanted to get rid of it, but somehow we never got around to it. Part of our reason is that some of the paper was two stories high and on the stairway. Neither my husband nor I are fond of heights.  I confess we even wished that covering the wall space circa 1970s wood paneling was still in vogue.  Thankfully, we got past that moment of insane desperation.

            Once we decided to remove the wallpaper, I grabbed a loose corner and pulled. Somehow I felt this confirmed our commitment.  I did this a couple of weeks before the contractor was scheduled to do the removal. Each day I walked past the spot and initially I noticed how fresh and clean the spot without wallpaper looked. However, as the days went past, I focused more on the remaining wallpaper and less on the spot that was clean. I was so anxious for the remaining old wallpaper to be gone.

            Finally the contractor arrived and began the task of removal. In some areas removal was quite easy. A gentle tug caused great sections to peel away. Other areas were not so easy. He had to patiently pick away the paper, sometimes in the smallest of scraps. He worked diligently until the task was done. A few days later, the thirsty walls received a fresh coat of paint.

            All of this got me thinking about the way the Lord works in our lives. He chooses an area that needs to be addressed and goes to work. It could be any number of issues; gossip, pride, anger, or perhaps addiction. Our issues are like the hideous wallpaper. God looks at us and sees the potential beneath our sins. Then HE begins peeling away the old. Sometimes we let go of large parts. Then there are those pieces we hold on to. For whatever reason, we are somehow more attached to them.  Thankfully, HE continues working.  Often the process is painful to us.  At points we wish He would just paint over the spots or cover them in paneling. Yet, HE continues working.  Somewhere in the process we begin to see that transformation is taking place! In HIS time, the old is stripped away and like the thirsty wall, we begin to receive the new. Gossip is replaced with discretion, pride is replaced with humility, anger turns to peace, and the chains of addiction are broken.

            I love how God uses simple, everyday things like ugly wallpaper to teach us. My prayer is that each time I walk through my hallway or travel the stairway, I will remember that God looks at me and sees the potential and never gives up on me.

“But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” (2 Corinthians 3 3:18 TLB)

                                                                        Blessings!

                                                                                          Leslie