Under Construction

This is a song that Carrie Maxwell Wrigley wrote that inspired my last post about Construction times... it's called Under Construction.

We had planned a quiet and romantic getaway,
Leave the kids with grandma, be alone for just a day,
But as we arrived for check-in at our local hotel,
And looked around the lobby, how our eager faces fell:
The sound of pounding hammers echoed through unpainted walls
Scaffolding and drop-cloth littered up unfinished halls
The restaurant was closed, room service "limited," it said,
And a scribbled cardboard sign next to the front desk read:

"Please excuse our mess, we're under construction;
We know it's awful inconvenient, but it's true.
The builders are working hard each day,
To make things better in every way,
And when all of this remodeling is through,
We'll be even better set for serving you."

Lately I've been thinking back a lot to that hotel,
Because, you see, for awhile I've not been doing very well.
Everything seems unfamiliar, everything seems strange;
Everything inside me seems to be getting rearranged;
Old walls I prized and thought I needed now have been knocked down;
New sections have been added, my whole floor plan has been turned around;
And through the dust and disarray, the thought has crossed my mind,
That maybe I should start to wear a little cardboard sign, saying:

"Please excuse my mess, I'm under construction;
I know it's awful inconvenient, but it's true.
The Builder is working hard each day,
To make things better in every way,
And when all of this remodeling is through,
I'll be even better set for serving you."

There's a certain Carpenter, a master in His skill;
Day by day, he does his work, you see.
I'd be perfectly content to stay a little cottage forever.
But He's got plans to make a shining palace out of me.
That He can live in...

So, please excuse my mess: I'm under construction.
It's not really of my choosing, but it's true;
The Builder is working hard each day,
To make things better in every way,
And when all of this remodeling is through,
I'll be even better set for serving Him... and you.
when this place of reconstruction work is through.

C.S Lewis said,
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
[C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 174; book 4, chapter 9, paragraph 10]

Love it. Because it's true... we all need a sign!!

Seriously, I want to make this sign for my girl's room...
wouldn't that be cute?
"Please excuse my mess, I'm UNDER CONSTRUCTION!"

the construction phases... NORMAL.
the estimated completion date... ETERNITY.
people who don't struggle... IMAGINARY.
the attitude we have during remodeling... OUR CHOICE!!

Today...
I'm washing lots and lots of laundry...
cleaning my carpets (I hope)...
nursing a feverish husband and toddler...
and...
I'm choosing Happily Ever After.