Making a Mess!

One day in 1998, we received an apologetic call from the agent at the management company through which we had rented our home less than two years before.   She regretfully informed us that the owners of the house had suddenly and without any warning, decided to sell the house we were living in… and we were given a 30-day notice to move.

So, needless to say, we had to scramble.  They only problem though, was that I had just recently been promoted back into management at Hewlett Packard and although the financial aspects of that promotion would greatly ease the application process, it also meant that I had no time to help with the house hunting.  Therefore, the burden of finding a home in a nice neighborhood that would adequately fit our home-schooling family of six fell entirely on Piper’s shoulders.

Well, it took a few weeks, but she found a nice house only a few blocks away from where we currently resided.  I clearly remember being able to squeeze in sometime between meetings at work in order to get out and take a quick peek at the home before it was taken.  I literally ran in the house, bounded up the stairs to check out the bedrooms and back downstairs to look at the kitchen, living and dining rooms and the rather large sunken family room that would work perfectly for the homeschool room. 

Three things that particularly caught my attention were the ugly dark brown carpet that was thankfully offset by a bright kitchen and eating nook… and out in the back there was a beautiful (but greatly overgrown and in desperate need of pruning) Gravenstein apple tree!  So, besides the brown carpet, Piper and I both thought the house was perfect for our needs and she went right over to the management office and signed the deal, while I hurriedly drove back to work.

After we moved in and I finally got some time to closely examine the backyard, I noticed that not only was the tree in great need of pruning but that the ground below it was covered in at least four inches of brown rotting apples… it was quite obvious that whoever the previous renters were… that they didn’t care for apples… or yardwork in general!  But for an avid gardener like myself… the place looked like seventh heaven!

I spent an entire cold Saturday in November climbing up into the tree and trimming, sawing and clipping branches galore!  I had never seen anything like it before.  It had an extension of the center trunk that had shot up at least four feet above the main canopy!  When I began to attack the tree, I decided that I would focus on the pruning and just let the branches fall down to the ground, to pick up on another day.

When I finished the pruning, I glanced over the yard and observed that it was almost entirely filled with various sizes and shapes of apple tree branches.  Piper came out when I finally climbed out of the tree and could only shake her head and laughingly talk about what a mess I had made!  Do you know that it actually took me and the kids another two days to pick up all the branches and trim them down to size to fit the garbage can (for multiple pickups) and then rake up all the old apples! 

Whew!  What a job!  But you know, from that summer on, during the next nine years we lived there, we had the best sweet Gravenstein apples one could crunch on, countless home baked apple pies, applesauce and baked apples with cinnamon and brown sugar!  I had surely made a huge mess when I pruned the tree… but afterwards… the rewards far exceeded the work… and the mess!

In Philippians 2:12-13 the Apostle Paul tells us,

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”  (EMTV)

The phrase “WORK OUT” is defined in the Hebrew as “to accomplish, to finish, to perform, to practice and to achieve.” So, in other words, in order to “make this new (Christian) life fully manifested as you live in the holy awe of God…” as The Passion Translation puts it, you have to work at it, practice it, perform it and determine to accomplish and finish the things that God tells you to do in His Word… and along the way… you’re probably going to make some messes as you work to apply the principles of God and His Word in your daily life!

I firmly believe that churches and the Christian life can… and maybe should at times… be messy!  It would seem to me, that if our lives were always perfect and that we were always living comfortably in our comfort zones… it would show that nothing new was happening… no new challenges, no opportunities to grow and no stands of faith in which God can work His miraculous power in, for and through our lives… unto others!

Like I mentioned earlier, I remember that it was an exceptionally damp and cold (yes… even for California) and overcast day when I went out to trim and shape that old apple tree… and I was definitely chilled by the time I stumbled back into the warm house for dinner that night.  I was also pretty sore for the next few days as I did it all by hand without the benefit of the power outdoor tools I now enjoy!

But like I said… no effort, no mess, no pain… no gain!  I was happy once all the work was completed, and the huge mess cleaned up… as was Piper!  But the results of all that effort and blisters… not only blessed our family, but neighbors, extended family and friends as well as our church!

So, what am I trying to say?  Don’t let the thought of making a mess STOP you from stepping out of your comfort zone in your Christian or secular lives.  Allow yourselves the adventure of learning new things, to stretch your faith and to reach out and be a blessing to someone else!  Look at the potential messes in life as a normal outcome of your personal growth!  Don’t purposely go out and make a mess, but if one does occur, see it as a part of the learning curve and clean it up when you are done!

Living a life that is afraid of change is… to me… a stagnant life that desperately needs a new adventure… and a little stirring up! 

Have a great weekend, and as you do, keep EXPECTING God’s BEST in your life!