After 19 months of battling my roof leak, we finally have a comprehensive plan to fix the problem. It started with the roofers tearing off a big section of the roof and replacing the plywood and then putting down a water and ice shield and then finally a new roof. They day they showed up they started early. Through most of the Pandemic, I have moved my office to my house. I have a quiet corner in the back bedroom. It was not quiet.
I described it has having a troop of gorillas on the roof with sledge hammers. (One person responded that a group of gorillas on the roof seemed like fun to watch, which upon reflection does seem like it would make a great youtube video). The sound was deafening I needed to be at the house to make some decisions, so I tried to work, but it was hard. I tried headphones. I tried tylenol. Mostly, I just struggled. Eventually, the noise either subsided or my ears grew numb. In just one day they tore off the old roof, replaced plywood, put down a new roof and cleaned up. It was amazing.
Then the interior project began. First, they had to scrape the ceiling to get the popcorn off. What a mess. Again, I needed to be home to help make some decisions, so I returned to my home office. It was quiet. I got a lot done, but then needed to leave to use my church computer to edit some video. I went to my door and realized that I was taped into the room. Plastic sheeting was stretched across the door. I got a knife and made a tiny slit to look in. There was no way to exit through the door without making the mess much worse.
After just a few seconds, I decided to crawl out the window. The bottom of the window is about 3 feet from the ground. Just enough, to make it impossible to reach the ground with one foot inside on the carpet. Also, the window is small and my body did not want to fit in the hole and let me maneuver. I felt like wet spaghetti noodles trying to be pushed through a key hole. Arms, legs, hands and feet were flailing for ways to help, but mostly just flapping in the air. Further, the bottom of the window frame was sharp. ti was like sitting on a ridge of nails. I finally was able to slide, stretch, and easy my way out of the window. It would have made a good youtube video.
There are some problems that can be fixed with simple adjustments. There are some problems that require a massive response. When you evaluate your life, don’t put off the massive changes of actions and attitudes just because they are going to be hard. On the other side is something new and beautiful. What changes have you been putting off? Is it an attitude that is destructive? Is it a relationship that is pulling you away from Christ? Is it a behavior that if people found it would ruin your witness? Tear off the roof, scrape away the rot, climb out the window, make an escape.