A Matter of Perspective

Photo by Mike Chai from Pexels

I would have made it if not for all the people. Like a herd of cattle, they funneled into the door that stood between me and my ride home. I tried to go against the flow but made very little headway. When the crowd finally thinned I ran onto the platform just in time to have the train door close in my face. And somewhere between the station door and the train door I passed a woman who made some remark about wishing people would just move out of her way. Initially I was annoyed at her comment which was clearly aimed at me. Later I laughed at the difference in how we each saw the situation. I still find it funny that each of us thought the other was the problem. Who was right? It’s all a simple matter of perspective.

Followers of Christ need to keep perspective in mind as we deal with people who do not know God. From our perspective every blessing comes from God and every daily event is orchestrated by Him. Even when a crowd of people sweep us away from the train we want to catch, God is still in control. That is how we see (or at least should see) life. That is our perspective. This is not, however, the perspective of the nonbeliever, who has no reason to look beyond chance or blind luck in explaining how our prayers are answered. People of other religions or of no religion might even think us a bit off when we speak of one who was raised from the dead. This is the perspective we must keep in mind as we share our testimonies with our friends and neighbors and with anyone else outside of the faith.

What do I mean when I say keep this perspective in mind? I mean we should not be shocked nor become angry when confronted with other explanations for what happens in life. We should not take it personal when someone refuses to accept what we say. In fact we should expect them to look for the flaws and the holes in our presentation, knowing that ultimately we’re not the ones whom they are rejecting. And so remember Christian, as you share the truth the resistance you face is not something to get upset about. It’s simply a matter of perspective.

How God Blessed Me in March and April 2019

Picture courtesy of Pixabay on Pexels.com

In church we have sessions where we ask for testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This serves as a reminder to us all that God is active and that He blesses His children on a regular basis. I would like to share a testimony of just a few of the ways He blessed me during the months of March and April of this year.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19

I enjoy spending my Sunday afternoons watching sports. Sometimes my son will join me, especially if I am watching NASCAR or football. I don’t really care what sports are on, if there is a competition I am ready and willing to spend my Sunday watching. And so I was none too happy when one Sunday in March, just as my posterior landed on the couch, my wife yelled about a leak under the kitchen sink.

Twelve years ago I installed a new trap under that sink and I guess I did not buy the best materials for the job. The trap corroded allowing my wife to punch a hole through the metal as she was moving something around in the cabinet. While I usually enjoy a trip to the hardware store, this was not what I wanted to do on my Sunday. But duty called and about an hour later I was back home with a new trap.

Now I consider myself somewhat handy when it comes to repairs but it did not take long for me to realize I was in over my head. Not only was the trap in bad shape but the pipes on either end of it began to crumble, leaving me with a much bigger problem. Realizing I would only continue to make matters worse I was forced to do something I really did not want to do: call in a professional.

I admit the estimate for the work was a little higher than I expected but as usual God was a step ahead. We had money set aside  and were able to pay cash for the repair. I thank God that our unexpected repair did not catch Him off guard and we were able to take care of things without any hardship at all. With reminders that so many of us are one unexpected bill away from financial disaster, it was good to get a quick reminder that God provides for His children.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Not only did God provide financially, having the plumber come in turned out to be a huge blessing. Through the eyes of a professional I was able to see that our kitchen plumbing is not up to code for a number of reasons. Knowing this changes our approach to the kitchen remodel we hope to start in the next year or two. We now know what needs to be changed. This will help us avoid future headaches. It also means we have an opportunity to make our kitchen more user friendly as the current location of the plumbing would have limited where we could put a new sink. I thank God both for providing for the repair and for the wisdom gained after spending a few minutes talking with our new plumber.

Our plumbing problem was not the only repair God provided for. A small rock hit the windshield of my wife’s car, leaving a good sized crack. That of course means we need a replacement. God has provided and we are in the process of scheduling the repair. Once again, because of God’s provision we will be able to pay cash for our deductible. Soon we will have a shiny new windshield.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

I John 5:14-15

My oldest son is finishing up his freshman year in college. While he is comfortable with the roommates chosen for him by the university, he believes he will be able to better focus on his studies if he has his own room. There are single rooms available in a few of the dorms but room assignments are based on a lottery system. We’ve been praying about this since January, asking God to provide a single room for the next school year. God heard our prayers and delivered. Not only will my son be in a single room next year, he will also have air conditioning. How is that for answered prayer?

Now I would like to hear from my brothers and sisters in Christ. How has God blessed you over the last few months?

And Yes, The Drywall Is Backwards

You never know what surprises are in store for you when you start a remodeling project in your home. In fact I've come to expect something odd or just plain wrong whenever I start a project in my house. So I was not surprised when I found what I thought was another layer of wallpaper under the old yellow paper in my dining room. What was odd was the fact that this second layer seemed to have a very unique, kind of furry, texture and it seemed to be glued into the gypsum inside the drywall. As it turns out this is not wallpaper. It is the surface of what should have been the back side of the drywall. My wife and I got a good laugh out of that one: “Yes honey, the drywall is backwards.”

To be honest I didn’t even know before now that drywall has a front and a back. In fact I scraped paper from the walls of one of our bathrooms and mud skimmed without recognizing that the drywall there is also backwards. I only thought about it while looking at some new drywall left by the contractor who replaced our severely damaged kitchen ceiling. The difference in color between the two sides got me thinking about the walls on home remodeling shows which are not fuzzy.

The new drywall is tan on one side and gray on the other and the gray is what I am use to seeing on television. It is also the side that was visible on the new kitchen ceiling before the contractor started painting. A quick Google search revealed the differences between the two sides. The gray side (the side that should face into the room) is slightly beveled around the edges. This allows the tape on the seems to lie flat with the edge of the board below the level of the board’s face. Because of these beveled edges it is easier to hide the tape and the seem. Plus the gray side has a smoother surface vs. the brown side’s rougher finish. The sort of fuzzy texture tends to show show through when you paint. Based on recent experience I'm guessing the grey side also makes it much easier to take down old wallpaper.

There are other reasons to make sure drywall is hung with the brown side facing the studs. According to Hunker.com greenboard (with a green surface) is designed for use in humid areas such as bathrooms. The special paper coating the front of the board resists moisture, repelling water (and I would assume mold). Turning this side towards the studs defeats the purpose of buying it in the first place. But no matter what room your putting it in, the gray (or green or even blue) side of drywall sounds as if it is a more practical side to have facing into the room. I only wish whoever put the drywall up in my house took this fact into consideration.

So I live in a house where it seems all of the drywall is backwards. This should make removing the old wallpaper in the other rooms a bit of an adventure. In the meantime I have to figure out what to do in my dining room. I can tear out all of the old drywall, which is time consuming but might be best from a visual standpoint. I can put wall paper back up using either decorative or a plain smooth type that I can paint over. That option would still mean mud skimming in order to prepare the wall for the new paper. To be honest, after the look I got from the guy in the big box store while I was looking for my scraper, I think I’ll stay away from wallpaper. I could simply mud skim the walls and then paint over them. That likely is the easiest solution but will it give me the best results?

Time to confer with my better half. I’ll let you know what we decide. Just out of curiosity which one would you do? Leave a comment below and let me know what you would choose.