The start of Week 3 had promise...the 'drywall guy" (I really don't know his name) came Monday morning. He and his assistant seemed to be working hard in the morning- measuring, marking, cutting...getting each piece ready for the necessary repairs and the corresponding walls. Around 1:30, they left for what I thought was their lunch break.... Our contractors had left for the day to work on the finishing of my cabinets when they appeared around 3:30 No drywall guy in sight, no assistant and no tools in the kitchen... Their text implied to our contractors was basically - "We can't replace and repair - It's too hard." Our contractors texted back to him "We know how to do this. Meet us at the house and we will show you." Drywall guy and his assistant had bailed.
I began thinking of this young man and his construction/remodeling business and how he had done the prep work, worked 1/2 day and quit. He missed out on 1/2 day's pay but really missed out on learning how to do hard things. He missed out on growing, becoming seasoned in his profession and missed out on the rewards of finishing a job well done.
Then I began thinking of our daily journey and what do we do when hard things arrive because they will. They will knock on the door of our home and heart. How do we not just do the prep work but how to see hard things, all things, through to the end?
During the morning while the drywall guy was working, I would peek in on them - so I could see and learn the process. I noticed that when they were trying to repair the sheet rock on our sloped ceiling, they were trying to repair it with one heavy, heavy, piece cut to the weird opening. Heavy, hard, heavy, unyielding piece of sheet rock - did I say it was heavy? They were unsuccessful - are you surprised?
In life, our hard things are sheet rock. Heavy, hard, unyielding and seeming unmanageable, unbearable and let's face it, we want to bail, pack up our tools and leave. But what if the way through these hard things is in how we mark, measure and cut? What I mean is what if we don't look at the hard things as one big piece..what if we took it and broke it down into manageable, bearable, not so heavy on our soul pieces. If we didn't look at the big picture, the what if's and the never's. If our hard thing was broken down bit by bit..choosing to work on one area at a time, so we can move forward. Looking at the hard things and staring in disbelief or disappointment is normal, natural. But then turn your gaze to the "What can I do? What is the next right thing ?" Sometimes, the next right thing is to empty the dishwasher, clean your room, pay the bills, call a friend, give yourself grace in this moment, ask for help. As you and I tackle the hard things in life, we need a small plan, a manageable plan for where we are, what we can do and who can help us. A grand design begins with small steps...Small steps that move us forward, gives us a path and a destination.
Day 23 was a great day...a new drywall guy (still don't know his name either) and his two assistants rang the bell at 8:00, surveyed all the repairs and brought in their tools. They began to work wallpaper magic and drywall dreams. The hole in the ceiling repaired with smaller pieces and once the mud went on--no one knew if the opening was filled with a large piece or smaller pieces...there's the life lesson...we do what we can to get where we want to be piece by piece, step by step, day by day, and when the hard things are passed-the reward is getting through them. A job well done, confidence that we can weather the storm and see the rainbow at the end.
So the next time you are faced with a hard thing - break it down, look at what you can do today to move forward and then do that again tomorrow and perhaps on Day 23 you will see your drywall dreams and the hard thing, the heavy- on- the- heart thing will be replaced with a lighter, brighter heart and a beautiful story of how you overcame.
Until next time,
Chantal
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