Two Remodels

Last week, while contractors tore out ancient fixtures and sorry carpet and cabinets to remodel our bathroom, I tore into another cavern of our house that I’ve ignored.  My part—two drawers—of our file cabinet needed to be faced fearlessly.

            Some things were easy to trash. Others had emotional attachment, and not all good. Many related to work, and I wondered if I should keep them. When I happened upon a couple of items, I sat down and read them, not to see if I should keep them, but rather to see if I still felt the same and would do or say the same things now, six or seven years later.

            Fortunately, my husband also took the week off. When I found him at the kitchen table, tears filled my eyes. The events that led up to those communications were again fresh, too fresh. “Throw them away,” he said. “You don’t need them anymore.”

            I didn’t throw them away. I ran them through the shredder. They made a delightful sound.

            When I finished going through the drawers, I felt purged of the past that had hung over that cabinet. All that remains are things that I am proud to keep or have factual importance. The gloom that I felt when I looked at that corner is gone.

            One evening this week as I skimmed a Bible study guide I plan to use, I read about forgiveness and making things right with people. The two communications I’d shredded related to someone at work with whom I’d had a bumpy relationship. I’d occasionally felt like I should have voiced an apology for my regrets, but I never had because I’d always felt innocent. Deep down I knew my thoughts, on occasion my tone of voice, and at times my demeanor hadn’t been pristine.

            The next morning, unplanned, unrehearsed, unscripted, I walked into his office and asked to be forgiven. The interchange couldn’t possibly have gone any better. The file purge and the “coincidental” overview of the study had brought me to a renewed level of obedience and cleansing.  Within two weeks both my house and heart were purged of old stuff.

            All I can say is that it was fantastic! When the Holy Spirit cleans your life, the process is done with gentleness and exactness. Who would have ever thought remodeling a bathroom would lead to a remodeled life?

            What needs scrubbing or shredding in your life?